Bryn and Ken's Excellent Adventure
by ElleMeDit2016
Summary: The fate of The Company of Thorin Oakenshield is about to be changed by two girls from our world, who have been gifted with a second chance in middle earth. With their awkward, and at times, hilarious transition into their new lives they will learn what it means to be an adult. Fíli/OC Kíli/OC Cowritten with Concrete Bubbles. Rated M for language and suggestive content.
1. Chapter 1: She Pushed Me No, I Didn't

Bryn and Ken's Excellent Adventure

We do not own The Hobbit or any of J.R.R. Tolkien's works. Or Any of the songs mentioned in this story. The only things we own are Bryndle and Kendall.

Cowritten with Concrete Bubbles.

u/1590476/Concrete-Bubbles

Chapter One: She Pushed Me. No, I didn't.

The sun stood, proudly, in the afternoon sky as the grove of trees known as the Trollshaws seemed undisturbed as most of the beings that lived amongst the woodland between the Mitheithel and Bruinen rivers went about every day life. But there was one thing that stood out like a sore thumb in the vast expanse of greenery, and that was a bed. Not the type of bed one would normally see around these parts. It was not a bed fashioned by a carpenter with broad wooden beams and pegs. It did not have a mattress filled with dusty, yellow straw or even the itchy wool shorn from sheep. No, this bed was rather extremely out of the ordinary for the frame was metal and the mattress was made of cotton, coils, and foam. Atop this queer bed was a nest of blankets and pillows, but a closer look revealed that there were also a pair of bodies that laid haphazardly tangled up within the mass of fabric. Whoever these two were they were strangers to the unfamiliar world around them and seemed none the wiser of their newfound surroundings.

A bird cawed from the top of a nearby pine tree causing one of the bodies to stir and from underneath a thick, red blanket a head of brown hair appeared. Blue eyes stilled riddled with sleep peaked up at the canopy of leaves. Blinking, rapidly in a desperate attempt to adjust to the daylight flooded them. Once the eyes could see past the glare of the afternoon sun, the brunette sat up and looked around mouth agape and eyes wide.

"What the fuck?" She whispered into the relative quiet of the wood before rubbing her eyes with hope that she was still in a dream. When that didn't change anything she pinched her side and flinched. "Oh fuck." She turned every way she could without getting off the bed mouth still hanging open. Without looking away from the trees that surrounded them, she reached over and smacked the form to her right. Another girl sprang into a sitting position revealing her mass of unruly blonde hair.

"The Hell?" The hiss in her voice was groggy with sleep. But as the blonde opened her green eyes and took a better look at her surroundings, she gasped and looked to her companion, "Uh, how drunk did we get last night?"

"Definitely not drunk enough to move my bed into the woods, I don't even live near a tree. Let alone a freaking forest." The brunette said still gawking.

"Just curious." The blonde said, shrugged before closing her eyes, collapsing back into the mattress and rolling onto her side.

"You can't seriously be going back to sleep." The brunette said, her voice cracking when she reached an octave that is obviously not in her range. "We are in the middle of fucking nowhere!"

"Just shut up, Kenny, we're obviously just dreaming. Go back to sleep we'll wake up and we'll be back in your room." The blonde said, waving her friend off as she curled up into a tight, little ball.

"Well Bryn, if we're dreaming then how are we having the same dream?" Kenny said. Her friend gave a noncommittal shrug. With a groan of indignation Kenny pushed Bryn out of the bed and onto the forest floor. After a moment of struggling to untangle herself from her blanket, Bryn's red, angry face popped up over the side of the bed. There was a leaf stuck in her hair and dirt splattered upon her cheek and forehead.

Standing up, Bryn brushed off her pants with a displeased frown pulling at her lips, "What the hell was that for? That hurt."

"If it were a dream it wouldn't have hurt." Kenny pointed out to the blonde with a condescending, but matter-of-fact tone in her voice.

"Well if it isn't a dream how the hell did we get here?" Bryn demanded with a hiss.

"Ooo maybe while drinking last night we stumbled upon an interdimensional portal that transported us to a different world." Kenny said, excitedly as she crawled into a kneeling position on the bed. Bryn rolled her eyes and gestured to the foresaid piece of furniture and inquired, skeptically, "With your bed, we fell in a portal with your bed?"

"Maybe portals act like ghosts or demons, that shit follows you home." Kenny said, seriously.

"Sure it does." It was Bryn's turn to be condescending as she turned away and began to comb throw the undergrowth, "Okay, we need to find my phone so we can figure out where we are."

"Phones won't work in an alternate dimension." Kenny said. "Besides you plugged your phone in last night. If only the bed came with us there's no way either of our phones would have made the trip through." The brunette, finally, climbed off the bed and began to walk around.

"Okay, so the phones weren't on the bed, that doesn't mean that we went through a portal. Your stupid roommates probably thought this was a hilarious prank and they drove us out here and left us." Bryn said, as she began to pace back and forth trying to figure out how the pair had gotten into this predicament.

"Wrong-o, I live with a gay black man and druggie midget, neither of which are strong enough or smart enough to pull this off without leaving any evidence."

Bryn placed her hands upon her lips and frowned even more, "Whatever. Let's just try to find some form of civilization. Maybe someone will have a phone we can use."

"Not if we're in an-" Kenny began but was almost instantly cut off by her friend.

"Shut up Kendall." Bryn threw back over her shoulder as she started to walk away.

"Yo Brynnie, don't you think we should take the pillows and blankets?" Kenny asked as she started folding the sheets and blankets up.

She turned around and gave her friend a confused look, "Uh- Why?"

"Well, we are lost. And by walking in one direction we could either get closer or farther from this civilization that you speak of, and if night comes I'm not going to be lying on the cold hard ground. I'm not Taylor Swift." Kenny pointed out. Bryn opened her mouth to reply but shut it, much like a fish gasping out of water before walking back over to the bed help. After about twenty minutes they managed to make a makeshift backpack out of the fitted sheet and hair ties they had on their wrists. They put the blankets in the bag and carried the pillows and set off.

After walking for about ten minutes in silence, Kenny felt the urge to hammer out any details as to where they might be. So she voiced her thoughts to her friends as she jumped over a fallen limb in their path, "So let's say it was a bad prank and we didn't get sucked into an alternate dimension, where would we be?"

"I don't know. The woods by 67 are the closest to your house." Bryn stated after a moment of thought, stepping around the same limb.

"That's like a thirty minute drive. There is no way we would have slept through that, especially if it was one of my roommates driving." Kenny raised her eyebrow at her friends as she pointed out the facts that they both knew were true.

"Well, I don't hear you coming up with any logical explanations." Bryn shot a glare to her friend when she opened her mouth. "And no your 'interdimensional portal theory' does not count."

"Buzz kill, I'm just trying to bring a little light to this otherwise dreary situation." Kenny snorted before she continued to theorize their current predicament, "But for the sake of argument let's say we did stumble into an-"

"Kendall Alice Porter, for the last fucking time, we did not fall into a fucking portal. We are still in the fucking continental United States. We are just lost and need to find a fucking phone. JESUS FUCKING CHRIST. " Bryn hissed, having grow tired of her friend's preposterous notion that they had somehow been transported into some fantasy world or other dimension. This was real life. Climbing through a wardrobe or falling through a painting into Narnia didn't happen. Portables into other worlds only existed in sci-fi, fantasy novels, and fan fiction.

"Jeeze, do you kiss your mother with that mouth Bryndle Fae Cassidy? What got your panties in a bunch?" Kenny asked. "And don't use my full name, people might here you."

Bryn didn't comment as she gave her friend an incredulous look.

"I hope to God people hear me. I don't want to be stranded in the middle of the-" She muttered before she pointed through the trees at clearing on the other side, "Hey, look there's a road."

"Looks more like a big patch of dirt." Kenny muttered, examining the path after they had emerged from the thick undergrowth and bushes. The pair had reached the top of a steep hill where they found, unknown to them, the East-West Road. Bryn started to carefully ease on the decline but stopped when she noticed her Kenny wasn't following.

"Well, are we going to go down or not?" Bryn inquired, expectantly, placing her hands upon her hips.

"I don't know what if we meet some unsavory people, like cannibalistic meth addicts or zombified bath salt eaters?" Kenny asked.

Bryn rolled her eyes at her friends and scoffed, "You cannot be serious."

"Fine but if you get rabies from some shady zombie-like crack addict don't come crying to me." Kenny said, stepping forward to take her own first step down the hill.

"Whatever, dumb ass. You've been spending too much time with your roommates." Bryn huffed, shuffling her feet for a better grip.

"_Dumbass?_ No, you're the dumb ass." Kenny said, reaching to grab a low, hanging branch for better leverage so that she could maintain her balance.

"I'm the dumbass? You're the one who suggested we fell into an alternate universe." Bryn shouted letting go of the branch she was holding.

"Well, you're the close-minded bitch who can't think outside the box." Kenny said, letting go of her branch as well so they both stood and faced one another.

"You're the bitch. If I had gone home, I wouldn't have been roped into this ridiculous prank and I would be having breakfast right now instead of walking through the woods with you." Bryn yelled, poking Kenny in the shoulder.

"Well gee, I'm sorry I bother you with my friendship and hospitality when we were out partying." Kenny said, sarcastically.

"Oh, please, you would have stayed in all weekend if it wasn't for me." Bryn said, narrowing her eyes and placing her hands on her hips.

"HA! It's your fault! You made me go out where we got drunk and you had to crash at my place if you didn't you'd be home. So don't blame me." Kenny remarked with sly grin because she knew she was correct in her assessment.

"Ugh, just, get out of my way." Bryn said, pushing past Kenny. However the brunette was unstable on the hillside and started to tip sideways.

With a delayed reaction, Kenny reached out and grabbed Bryn's arm pulling them both down the side of the hill with the two pillows flying out of their free hands. They tumbled, violently, down the steep hillside and frantically trying to direct their bodies around the trees that seemed to fly toward them. Kendall reached the bottom of the hill first landing just to the side of the road. When she made to stand Bryn rolled the rest of the way taking Kendall's knees out from under her causing the two to land in a pile of tangled limbs.

"God, your legs weigh a ton." Bryn said, squirming from underneath Kendall.

"Well, maybe if you weren't the size of a tree insect, you could handle a little bit more weight." Kendall said rubbing the back of her head.

"I'm petite. I was born this way." Bryn huffed, trying to collect herself amongst the pillows and her friend's body.

"Whatever, Lady Gaga, get your foot off my hand." Kendall said, pulling her arm free when Bryn moved her foot. The two rolled away from each other and sat up so they were facing one another. Bryn had since lost the dirt and leaves from her tumble out of the bed, but on the fall her hair began to resemble a bird's nest with twigs and leaves and dirt tangled all in it. Kendall was not much better. Her hair being longer it caught more sticks than anything.

Bryn said with a snort, "You look like a freaking reindeer."

"Oh, pot calling the kettle black. Get a mirror shorty you look like birds were trying to cling to your hair during a tornado." Kendall said, beginning to laugh, heartily. Bryn began to laugh louder.

"Where do you come up with these descriptions?" Bryn asked, clutching her sides as she tried to catch her breath.

The two were laughing so loudly neither one noticed a company of men on horses heading their way. They continued to laugh until the leader of the group stopped his horse right behind Kendall. Bryn stopped laughing immediately and began to look around. The company was beginning to surround the two girls and the leader on his horse. With a swift smack to the side of the head Kendall stopped laughing and looked around.

"Holy shit." The girls were looking closely at the group of men that surrounded them. All of whom had large weapons, bows, axes and swords, all except the small man with no shoes and the giant old man in grey. The leader of the on the horse closest to the girls dismounted and walked toward the two. The girls scrambled to their feet and stood side-by-side facing the menacing looking man. He got close to them with his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. It was silent as he stood glowering at them.

"So, uh, where's the Renaissance Fair?" Kendall asked and then winced when Bryn elbowed her side. "God, your elbows are like daggers."

"Shut up. Bryn whispered, "You're going to get us killed."

"Oh, so now you worry about potential dangers on the road?" Kendall asked, "Good Lord, something is wrong with you."

"Me? You're the idiot who just asked an armed stranger where the Renaissance Fair was. Does he look like the type to go to a Renaissance Fair?" Bryn whispered back in hiss, her voice quiet so only Kendall could hear her.

"Well, you never know." Kendall said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Silence." The leader of the group commanded, his voice was deep and authoritative causing both girls to snap their attention back to him. They had momentarily forgotten that he was so close to them.

"Who are you and what are you doing?" He asked, harshly as his pale, blue eyes narrowed as he looked over them.

"Sorry sir, we're just lost. We don't know where we are." Bryn said to the strange man.

"That's redundant." Kendall muttered under her breath.

"Shut up smart ass." Bryn said before turning back to the stranger. "Anyway, we were wondering if you know where the nearest city, or town is?"

"I do believe the nearest city is Rivendell." The girls were startled when it wasn't the stranger in front of them that answered the question but the older man dressed in a grey, billowy robe with his large pointy hat and his elaborate walking stick his wrinkled face smiled down at the two of them. The two girls both wore similar shocked expressions. They stared at the elder giant in incomprehensible dumbfoundedness.

"Rivendell? As in the Elven city of Rivendell?" Kendall asked, being the first to recover from the initial shock of the familiar stranger standing before them.

"Yes, my dear the very same." The grey giant replied.

"So elves are real?" She asked.

The old man chuckled as a small smile grew upon his lips, "Yes, my dear child, they are most certainly real."

"And, if I may be so bold to ask, who are you?" Kendall asked.

"I, am Gandalf the Grey." The wizard said sitting straighter in his saddle. A satisfied smirk began to form on Kendall's face as she turned to her friend. Bryn's face slowly morphed from shock to irritation as she looked at her grinning friend.

"Hey Brynnie, I was right." Kendall grinned toothily as her friend glared, nastily.

"Oh my God shut up."


	2. Chapter 2: We Are Not From Narnia

We do not own The Hobbit or any of J.R.R. Tolkien's works. Or Any of the songs mentioned in this story. The only things we own are Bryndle and Kendall.

Cowritten with Concrete Bubbles.

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: We Are Not From Narnia<p>

"_Hey Brynnie, I was right." Kendall grinned, toothily as her friend glared, nastily._

"_Oh my God shut up."_

The company of dwarves, as they now realized they were dwarves, began to chuckle quietly with the exception of a few, until the leader once again silenced them all. If it was possible he got even closer to the girls, his hand gripping tightly on the hilt of his sword. Through gritted teeth he seethed at them. "I will not ask you again, who are you?"

"But you just did." Kenny pointed out.

"Oh my God shut up." Bryn hissed.

He growled angrily at them, eyes blazing like blue fire. Bryn swallows loudly, before she leans in to whisper in Kenny's ear, "Just tell him." With a groan and an eye roll Kenny looked up at the man who was becoming increasingly irate.

"I'm Kendall, and this is Bryndle, and we already know Gandalf, so who are you?" The former revealed, gesturing between the pair to specify who was who.

"I don't need to answer to you." He snapped as he made a move to turn away from the strange girls and towards his company.

"Well it's only common courtesy, when you meet new people you generally exchange names." Kendall stated as she crossed her arms over her chest. Bryn proceeded to smack her hand to her face.

The grey wizard had been watching the conversation from the side and the more that he watched the girls, the more he felt that they were needed on their quest. So he took it upon himself to step in, "Now, Thorin, what kind of man would this make you if you left two maidens stranded in the middle of the Trollshaws with nothing to defend themselves with?"

The shorter man whirled around to confront Gandalf, "It is not my concern what happens to these girls and it should not concern them as to who I might be."

"I believe it would be best that we escort them to Rivendell." Gandalf insisted, towering over the darker man. The air around the wizard seemed to crackle with magic and the display seemed to cause the other man to back down.

With an exasperated sigh, the leader of the company turned back to Bryn and Ken. He bowed mockingly, before introducing himself through gritted teeth, "My name is Thorin Oakenshield. I am the leader of this company and as the wizard so dutifully pointed out, it would be best if you accompanied us to Rivendell."

"Somebody just got told." Ken whispered to Bryn as Thorin turned back to his company and began to bark orders to his men, "Nori, Bofur, they will be riding with you." He seemed to growl out the sentence, as if it was physically paining him. The dwarves in question nodded in Thorin's direction, and trotted their ponies forward.

"Dibbs on the one in the hat." Bryn called, quickly, picking up her pillow and charging forward towards the dwarf mentioned astride an off white pony.

The aforementioned dwarf with the hat plucked the pillow from Bryn's hands and laced it amongst his own things before offering the blonde a hand to climb upon his pony, "Name's Bofur. But I didn't quite catch yours, lass."

"Bryndle. But call me, Bryn. Everyone else does." She informed the pigtailed dwarf as she settled down in the saddle behind him. Kendall rolled her eyes not moving from her original spot. After a second she noticed the company stare at her expectantly. She shook her head and gathered her blankets, sheets and pillow and walked up to the man with hair shaped like a starfish.

"Sup?" She asked with an upward nod of her head. He gave her an odd look as if she were speaking a different language, before taking her things and shoving most of it into his saddlebags. He then grabbed the back of her shirt and hauled her onto the back of his light bay pony.

"Whoa there Starwish, don't get too ahead of yourself." He gave a confused chuckle and started his pony forward with the rest of the group. "So, forgive my short attention span, but what is your name again?" Kendall asked, leaning into the rider.

"Nori." He said, gruffly.

"You don't talk much do you?" Kendall asked, nonchalantly, attempting to start a conversation to entertain herself like she would've done on any trip.

"No."

Kendall pouted when he didn't seem willing to speak, "Well, that's boring." She shifted in the saddle to see around Nori's hair.

"Yo, Brynnie," Kendall yelled across the short distance, "How's your escort doing with conversation?"

"Fine." Bryn responded in a normal volume, now adorning Bofur's hat. Of course, her short reply was enough to make the brunette girl groan in frustration. But the cheerful voice of the blonde's riding partner soon perked up Kendall's mood, "Aye, the lass has been quite amusing. But if you don't mind, I have to ask, how did you come across such queer attire? Shouldn't proper lasses such as yourselves be wearin' other-"

"'Proper lasses'?" The girls snorted in unison, chuckling at the notion of them being anything close to 'proper'. Kendall shared a looked with her friend before she gestured between the pair, "What makes you think that this imp and I are proper?"

The miner stroked his mustache in thought as he mulled over how he should respond. After a moment or two, he shrugged, "I suppose you're right. I've just never seen clothes like what you're wearin'."

The girls shared another look, trying to decide how they were going to explain their attire to someone who lived in middle earth and had a different sense of modesty. They continued their silent conversation between them until Kendall, decided to speak up, "Well, it might not be common around here but where we come from it's actually a normality. Right, Bryn?"

The blonde nodded in agreement even if the dwarf in front of her couldn't see her reaction, but then added, "Well, some people dress more scantily than we do."

"True that. Did you see that one who was practically-" Kendall began but was immediately cut off by Bryn.

"Seriously have some class, don't share that stuff." Bryn rolled her eyes and glared at her friend.

"Puh-lease, I reek of decorum." Kenny preened, causing the blonde to roll her eyes. Nori, however, chuckled, deeply.

"Pardon me, but where exactly do the two of you come from," A new voice asked as an elderly white haired dwarf with an extremely long beard inserted himself into the conversation. He had a kind, gentle face sort of like your favorite grandpa or maybe even Santa Claus. Overall, he looked like a rather pleasant individual. He offered the girls a kind smile and then added, "Balin, at your service."

Both Bryn and Kenny weren't quite sure of how to proceed with answering Balin's question, especially with the added pressure that all available eyes and ears of the company had tuned in. It might not have been extremely apparent but most of dwarves were interested in finding out where these two strange girls had come from. None of them had ever seen a girl or woman dressed the way they dressed or even spoke the way they spoke.

The pair assumed another one of their silent conversations and from an outsider's perspective it appeared that they were having an argument without words. It became very apparent to the others in the company that these two could be sisters, but judging by the differences in their looks they weren't related. But when the blonde sent a stern look to the brunette that clearly conveyed that the latter of the two better get to talking.

Rolling her eyes at her friend, Kendall scratched the back of her head trying to think of something on the spot, "Well, we are from… We're from a place far, far away."

"Oh my god, Kenny, I think they've gathered that so far." Bryn interjected, "Don't go there either."

The blonde knew that her friend was trying to channel her inner Star Wars fan by modifying the famous introduction to veil the truth about their origins. But Bryn regretted telling her no when Kendall's face shifted into that of fierce determination and defiance.

"Yes, we are from a land far away. We came from across the sea, from a place called Alderaan. We managed to get out before the Imperial Army destroyed it." Kendall sent a glare toward Bryn, who was staring at her open mouthed. "We've been lost for days, just wandering around. But we knew we had to carry on, there'd be peace when we were done. We could lay our weary heads to rest. We didn't want to cry anymore." Kendall ended solemnly.

"Kansas? You're quoting Kansas." Bryn asked, incredulously, "No, that is not what happened."

Kendall huffed and sent a pointed glare Bryn's way, "Well, I don't see you stepping up to the plate, so why don't you just keep quite and let me talk."

"I'd rather you let me, after hearing the train wreck you came up with."

"Fine," Kendall shrugged, gesturing for Bryn to take the lead, who rolled her eyes at her friend before she informed the company of where they came from, "We're from Narnia."

"_NARNIA?!_" Kendall shouted. Bryn only shrugged and glared.

"No, we're not from Narnia, either." Kendall said.

"Why don't you start telling the truth, before we tie you up and leave you for the crows?" Thorin's voice floated back toward them, not loud, yet undeniably frightening.

"Uh, well we're from America." Kendall muttered.

"America? Where is this land?" Another new voice joined in causing both girls to look behind them as a pair of younger dwarves trotted their ponies up beside them. Kendall had to do a discount double take on the scruffy faced, brunette dwarf that appeared next to Nori's pony. In her mind, he could only be akin to Adonis when he flashed a pearly smile at her.

Kendall opened her mouth to speak but no words could come out as she continued to gawk at the weirdly pretty, young dwarf. And the only thought that popped up in her mind was, 'Hellooooo Nurse.'

Fortunately for her, Bryn wasn't faring much better as a curly blonde dwarf, that kind of looked like Ryan Gosling with long hair and a braided mustache, pulled up beside Bofur's pony. She was trying not to drool all over herself.

The two dwarves shared a smirk from across the path at each before they introduced themselves to the girls. The blonde riding next to Bryn went first, "Fíli." Then the brunette, "And Kíli." And then in unison, "At your service."

"Kendall, at _your_ service." The female brunette couldn't help but flirt back a little with Kíli.

"Bryndle, but call me, Bryn." The blondes shared a smile as Bryn reached out to shake Fíli's hand like the awkward person she was. Fíli appeared unaccustomed to her gesture so he, merely, let it happen.

"So where is America?" Kíli inquired, getting back to the previous topic.

The girls shared a look and Kendall clarified with a shrug, "It's far to the North across the sea. It's not all that exciting."

"What are you doing over in Arda?" Fíli inquired, deciding to join in on the conversation as well.

The girls shared a look again and this time it was Bryn who spoke, "We grew bored so we decided when we came of age we were going to go see what else there was in this world." Kendall had to refrain from rolling her eyes at her friend's lack of imagination, still believing her Star Wars story was much more entertaining. Bryn looked over and glared at Kendall as if reading her mind.

"How did you end up in the Trollshaws?" Kíli asked.

"We got lost." Bryn shrugged, trying not to look at anyone because she knew that she was a bad liar.

"You don't look like you've been traveling." Fíli observed as he looked over Bryn's relatively clean outfit.

"Well, we had been staying with this man named Hagrid and his wife Minerva, but we got separated just the other day so we've been wandering around since." If anyone had been looking at Bryn while Kendall was speaking they would have seen the disgust and disbelief on her face, instantly trapping them in their lie. And if the girls had looked to Gandalf they would have seen his knowing expression. But luckily no one was looking where they should have.

"So have you enjoyed yourself so far?" Bofur asked, his pigtails sticking out oddly from his head.

"Other than getting lost and being pushed down a hill, not too bad." Kendall noted, as she pretended to brush dirt off her shoulder.

"I did not push you. You fell and dragged me down with you." Bryn argued.

"Whatever, think what you will." Kendall waved off the blonde, "So who are the rest of you guys?"

Bofur withheld his need to laugh at the pair, and pointed to each one as he answered, "Well, you know the group of us, Thorin and Gandalf. That there with the mane of red hair is Glóin, he's next to his brother, Óin, with that damned ear trumpet. The big, mostly bald one with the battle-axes strapped to his back and the scary face is Balin's younger brother, Dwalin. That fat one is my brother Bombur, and the one with the axe in his head is my cousin Bifur."

Kíli then jumped in, "Then you have Dori, and Ori, they're Nori's brothers."

"Ori's the youngest." Fíli clarified. "And we can't forget our burglar."

"Mr. Boggins." Kíli grinned so brightly that it made Kendall blink, stupidly, for a moment.

"It's Mr. Baggins, Bilbo Baggins." A meek voice corrected the young dwarf from somewhere behind them which caused the girls turned to look to see who had spoken up.

"You're a hobbit." Bryn exclaimed, excitedly because she had always had an affinity for hobbits because she had always been short for a human and enjoyed walking around barefoot.

"Yes, I am." He replied, tiredly, looking more disheveled than the rest of the group as he, awkwardly clung to the reins of his pony.

"Do you know where the Green Dragon is?" Bryn asked, not being dissuaded by his disinterest.

"Yes, I do." He confirmed, quickly as he tried to dismiss himself from the conversation. But his efforts were dismembered as the other girl butted in.

"We know the Green Dragon song!" Kendall exclaimed. She looked over at her friend and they wore matching grins.

"_You can search far and wide,_

_You can drink the whole town dry._

_But you'll never find a beer so brown_

_As the one we drink in our hometown._

_You can drink your fancy ales._

_You can drink 'em by the flagon._

_But the only brew for the brave and true_

_Comes from the Green Dragon."_

The dwarves around them clapped when the girls finished the tavern song with the best bows that they could manage on the back of their ponies. They shared a grin when they noticed that the group that had gathered around them appeared to be a little bit more upbeat than they were before. The only ones, who seemed to not enjoy the song, were Thorin and the Halfling.

"You are not a happy hobbit." Kendall stated when she saw Bilbo's bland face.

"No, I am not." He deadpanned, rubbing a hand over his face in dismay.

"Not very talkative either." Bryn muttered. Bofur chuckled as he pulled out his pipe and began to puff on it.

"So you lasses like to sing, do ya?" Bofur asked as smoke trailing out from his mouth.

"Yeah, we sing all the time." Kendall said, grinning as she thought of all the times she and Bryn had sang at the top of their lungs in the car or wherever they went. Singing songs were some of the fondest memories they had together as well as some of the most entertaining.

"Well, sing us something from where you're from." He suggested. The two girls shared a look and a grin.

"Hmm, what shall we sing?" Kendall asked Bryn with a contemplative look. "Journey?"

"Nah, Queen?" Bryn suggested with a smirk.

"Not this time. Don McLean?" Kendall offered instead.

"Sounds fitting." She agreed, as her smirk grew into a full on grin. Kendal held up a hand and counted off; one, two, three, and together they sang.

_"A long, long time ago  
>I can still remember how that music used to make me smile<br>And I knew if I had my chance  
>That I could make those people dance<br>And maybe they'd be happy for a while_

_But February made me shiver_  
><em>With every paper I'd deliver<em>  
><em>Bad news on the doorstep<em>  
><em>I couldn't take one more step<em>

_I can't remember if I cried_  
><em>When I read about his widowed bride<em>  
><em>But something touched me deep inside<em>  
><em>The day the music died<em>

_So bye-bye, Miss American Pie_  
><em>Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry<em>  
><em>And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye<em>  
><em>Singin' 'This'll be the day that I die<em>  
><em>This'll be the day that I die'"<em>

"Time for bonding is over, we shall make camp here." Thorin's voice resonated through the trees. The group began to dismount as they came upon a clearing with an old, run down stone cottage that looked weathered beyond repair. It appeared to have once been a farmhouse and but judging by the deterioration of the structure it had been a long time since it had been used for any kind of purpose.

Before everyone's feet had hit the ground, he began to bark out orders to get the campsite set up before dark. Bryn and Kendall did what they could to help, which wasn't much. They mostly just tried not to get in anyone's way. The two girls sat in silence as they watched the dwarves work, quickly and efficiently and they were so caught up in watching them work that they didn't notice Gandalf storm off until Bilbo's voice broke their train of thought,

"Is everything alright? Gandalf, where are you going?"

The girls looked up to see Gandalf's back moving away from the camp as he spoke, "To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense."

Sharing a look, Bryn and Kendall figured that Gandalf and Thorin must have gotten into an argument over something. But who knew with the way that dwarf acted. So they only shrugged to another when they couldn't think of an answer as to what had gone on between the two. So they turned their attention back to the Halfling, who was obviously trying to get Gandalf to stay, "Who's that?"

"Myself, Mr. Baggins. I've had enough of dwarves for one day." He declared the smaller man as he disappeared into the forest just beyond the campsite.

The rest of the camp looked after the wizard had gone, unsure of how to react to what had transpired until Thorin's voice reined them back to work, "Come on, Bombur, we're hungry."


	3. Chapter 3: We Are Human People

Chapter 3: We Are Human People

Bryn and Kenny sat off to the side; far enough away that an outsider would know they were not part of the group, yet close enough to still feel the warmth of the fire. They were not expecting it when Bombur waddled up to them with two bowls. Aftee saying their thanks, they, hungrily, began to stuff their faces. They paused, however, when the attractive brothers broke through the tree line. Their faces were creased with slight panic as they bounded over towards the leader of the company.

"Trolls have taken the ponies." The blonde one, Fíli informed everyone as he looked to Thorin for instruction as to what to do next.

"Where's Bilbo?" Bofur asked with a hint of concern showing through his normally cheerful features.

"He's distracting them." Kíli told the miner.

"How many ponies have been taken?" Thorin demanded as he looked to Fíli. The dwarf in question didn't miss a beat and responded, quickly, "Four, I believe."

"Right, lead the way." Thorin commanded the brothers, heading off in the direction the brothers had come from. But he paused at the tree line and looked back at the girls with a stern glare, "You two," they balked in fear as they watched the dwarves disappear into the forest. "Go watch the ponies."

Immediately, the girls got up to follow Thorin's order and made their way to the open area where the rest of ponies grazed, seemingly unaware that some of their companions had been stolen by trolls. The equine continued on their merry way grazing about the small pasture and interacting with one another.

"The ponies are being taken by trolls, do you think Thorin is trying to get us captured by having us watch them?" Kendall asked, sitting down and pulling at a couple blades of grass. Bryn looked to the ground then at her pants, before begrudgingly sitting next to her friend.

"I don't know maybe. He doesn't seem overly excited that we're here."

"Maybe he thinks he can get rid of us while Gandalf's gone. Then when he comes back, Thorin will be like, 'oops they got eaten by a troll.'" Kendall mimicked the man, sarcastically.

Bryn rolled her eyes and looked across at the ponies, "Well, at least he asked us to do something, instead of having us distract the trolls. I'd much rather be watching the ponies."

Kendall looked, curiously at her friend, "Why do they call them ponies?"

Bryn gave her an are-you-stupid look as she rolled her eyes, "Because they are ponies."

"But they're not small." Kendall pointed out, she was still confused as to why grown ass men would need to be riding ponies. Shouldn't they be riding horses like normal people?

"Yes, they are." Bryn disagreed before inquiring to her friend, "Why do you think the dwarves look normal riding them?"

"Dwarves? They're dwarves?" Kendall asked as a look of utter shock morphed her face, "But they're not tiny. They're 'normal' people size."

"No, they're not." Bryn shook her head as she looked over the ponies, counting them off in her head to make sure another one hadn't been lost under their watch.

"Then why aren't we taller than them?" Kendall wondered aloud and looked to her friend for an explanation. The brunette girl figured that if they were dwarves or something like that, Kendall should be taller than them. Bryn might not have shrunk all that much considering she had always been quite petite.

"I don't know. Maybe your 'interdimensional portal' shrank us." Bryn shrugged, condescendingly.

Kendall rolled her eyes as her friend dissed her theory and then inquired, "So that's why Gandalf is so huge?"

"Yes, you dense mother fucker." Bryn said, trying to bite back a laugh at her oblivious friend.

"I can't believe this." Kendall said, shaking her head as she stared at the ground. Denial was already beginning to set in for the brunette. Being short was something that Kendall wasn't used to like her petite friend, who had been rather small all of her life.

"Really, you can fathom that we fell into an alternate universe, that was we thought was a figment of Tolkien's imagination, but you can't comprehend the thought that we shrunk?" Bryn asked in disbelief as she raised an accusing eyebrow at her friend.

"I've never been short before." Kendall muttered, pathetically. Bryn rolled her eyes. "It's not all that bad."

Kendall scoffed at her friend, "Not that bad? You've had your whole life to get used to being short. I've been above average for 18 years, I can't deal with it."

"Well, you're tall for a dwarf." Bryn snickered. Kendall shot her a glare and frowned, "Not funny."

The two were interrupted for a moment as the four ponies that were taken by the trolls galloped into the clearing at break neck speed. Bryn stood and brushed off her pants, "Well, I guess they'll be coming back soon."

However, the dwarves did not emerge from the brush after the newly freed ponies. So the girls sat and waited for them to return. Surely, they would return shortly after freeing their stolen ponies. It wouldn't have been that hard to deal with a couple of trolls when there were thirteen dwarves and a hobbit. The numbers were in the company's favor and they probably had more brains put together to out smart them. But, after a half hour the girls started to get worried.

"Where do you think they are?" Kendall asked, walking up to Bryn, who had walked off to start counting the ponies to make sure that none had wondered off or had gotten spooked by the returning nags.

"I don't know but they couldn't have left, not without the ponies." The shorter girl looked up at her friend with a shrug.

"Frodo managed without a pony." Kendall pointed out as she recalled how the hobbit had made it to Mordor on foot in the _'Lord of the Rings'_. Bryn rolled her eyes once again and waved her friend in the direction of the camp, "Then go see if they went back to camp."

Kendall shot Bryn a look at her order, but set off toward camp through the small cluster of trees that separated them. All she saw was the dying fire and scattering of the dwarves belongings. Curiously, the brunette made her way back to Bryn and the ponies.

"They aren't there."

"Shit, did they get captured?" Bryn asked. They gave each other a sharp look before dashing off in the direction where the trolls supposedly had their fire. They heard voices and saw the light of the fire pit. Hiding behind a rock Kendall and Bryn peaked around to see what was happening. Half the company was tied up in big burlap sacks, and the other half was being slow roasted rotisserie style above the flame. But the three large mountain trolls had their attention to Bilbo, who had hopped up and was attempting to distract them from eating the company.

"They've got worms in their tubes!"

The company began to protest the hobbit's statement. They couldn't see that he was trying to buy them some time and trick the trolls into giving the dwarves up. The girls rolled their eyes when they heard the dwarves suddenly change their tune as they realized what Bilbo was trying to do.

"I've got parasites as big as my arms!" Óin declared.

Kíli also joined in speaking as loudly above the others as he could, "Mine are the biggest parasites! I've got huge parasites!"

The large troll in the middle then turned to Bilbo and asked him, "What would you have us do then? Let 'em all go?"

Bilbo looked, sheepishly up at the ugly creature and shrugged, "Well…"

The girls shared at look, knowing that this was going to turn into a disaster soon if they didn't do something. Bilbo's plan was quickly falling apart before them and the company was running out of options to prevent themselves from becoming troll grub. Kendall knew that they had to help but she didn't know how. The brunette felt panic rise in her chest as the troll poked Bilbo in the chest, "Shit! What do we do?"

"I have a plan." Bryn announced to her companion with a look.

Kendall turned and looked towards her friend, expectantly, "Great! What is it?"

"This." Bryn said, giving her friend a shove with far more force than someone of her size should have been able to muster. Kendall rolled backwards down the slope and over the bound dwarves, landing on her back right next to the fire in front of a massive troll. For a moment, nobody moved or spoke as Kendall pulled herself into a standing position. She glared in the general direction of Bryn's hiding spot before turning to face the three gob smacked trolls.

"Sup?" She said with a head nod.

"Who are you?" one of the trolls asked, a stupid expression only fit to be upon his stupid face.

Another troll leaned forward, eagerly and asked, "Can we eat it?"

"No, you cannot eat me." Kendall rebuked, placing her hands on her hips. Oddly enough this comment stumped the trolls.

"Why not?" the third one asked.

"Because, I'm a lady," Kendall heard snickering off to the side. She quickly glanced over to see Bryn crouched over trying to undo one of the dwarf's bindings and then continued, "A lady of the Order of the Phoenix, and as such, my blood has turned to poison. So if you value your lives, you would do well to let the dwarves go." Kendall could practically feel Bryn's eyes roll.

"Why would we do sumtan' like that?" The middle troll asked as he looked down the odd girl, skeptically.

"Because I have been charged with the fate of these dwarves, the high Mugwump of the Wizengamot has decreed that they shall suffer a death of infection. I have already distributed the poison and now they are tainted. If you consume them, you shall also perish." Kendall spoke with such conviction even some of the dwarves were frightened. But all of the tension was lost the moment Bryn let a laugh break loose.

The troll on the left then declared and made a move to poke Kendall, "Oi! This one's playin' us for fools." He continued and reached for Bryn, "And she brought another one." The blonde tried to scramble back away from the troll's dirty hand but couldn't get her footing quickly enough. The right troll grabbed onto Kendall and the one on the left grabbed Bryn and they were both hauled into the air.

"The dawn will take you all!" Everyone looked up to Gandalf as he stood upon a large rock.

"Who's that?" The troll still turning the dwarves on the spit asked.

"Can we eat'im too?" The troll holding Bryn asked. Gandalf suddenly hit the large boulder and split it in two. Sunlight came streaming into the area. The trolls began to scream and turn to stone with the girls still in their grasps.

"Way to go, dumb ass." Kendall hissed, glaring at her friend as the two were trapped in the stone grasped suspended above the ground. Bryn had the decency to look sheepish, her face coloring, slightly. Slowly, the dwarves untied themselves with the help of Gandalf and began to gather their belongings. Laughing, slightly, Kíli and Fíli walked up to the girls as they adjusted their weapons back into their usual places.

"That was brilliant." Kíli informed the girls as he cast a look up to Kendall, who blushed 50 shades of red at his compliment.

Fíli nodded his head in agreement to what his brother was saying, but then inquired, "But we must ask, you didn't really poison us did you?"

"No, you dolt, that was total bull shit." Kendall dismissed with a snort.

"How did you make it sound so convincing?" Kíli questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well… Until Bryndle, over here laughed." Fíli pointed out as he sent a wry smile up at the other girl. The blonde bowed her head in an attempt to hide her embarrassment but failed to hide the flush on her face because her arms were still pinned within the troll's stony hand. Kendall raised an eyebrow at her friend's reaction but then turned back to address Kíli.

"I read a lot. It enhances my imagination." She grinned. But her grin dropped as Gandalf and Thorin made their way over to the pair. But they both relaxed when the wizard struck the trolls' arms with his staff causing the stone to crumble and the girls to fall to the ground. The girls collapsed onto their buts from the force of the fall, but they stood up, quickly and began to brush themselves off.

"It appears, you three had the right idea." Gandalf smiled down at the two girls and Bilbo, who stood not too far away from them. He wasn't surprised that the three outcasts of the group had banned together in an attempt to save the others.

"Well, I don't like to brag…" Kendall started off, as she began to preen about her wits but was cut off by Bryn as she immediately protested her statement, "It was my idea."

"No, it wasn't." Kendall scoffed and placed her hands upon her hips, as she sent a pointed look across to the blonde, "You pushed me into a hostile area with only my wit as a weapon."

"Yeah, my idea, because I knew you could think quicker than me." Bryn pointed out with a shrug.

Kendall rolled her eyes as she waved her friend off, "Whatever, I'm still the brains of this operation."

"You didn't even realize they were dwarves until I pointed it out to you. How does that make you the brains?" Bryn inquired as she folded her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow in the brunette's direction. As the girls continued to bicker, they didn't notice that some of the company had left to find the cave that trolls must have been staying in. What was left of the group began walking back to the campsite intent on packing up their belongings and moving on.

"You didn't know we were dwarves?" Fíli asked, skeptically.

"Uh, no. I thought dwarves would be shorter." Kendall informed him, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment as she turned to face him. Bryn snorted and shook her head at her friend's explanation.

Kíli looked between the two for a moment before asking, "Well, you're obviously not dwarves. What are you then?"

"We're people." Bryn offered, lamely which caused Kendall gave her an odd look. Bryn frowned for a moment before she went on to clarify, "Uh, human?"

"You two are awfully short for humans." Bilbo observed as he made his way over to join in on the conversation.

"You're one to talk, hobbit." Kendall pointed out as she cast the Halfling a sideways glance.

Bryn didn't hesitate as she went to excuse her friend's bitterness, "Don't pay her any mind, she's not used to being one of the shorter ones in a group."

"Why are you so short?" Fíli asked, looking them over.

"I guess people are just shorter where we're from." Kendall shrugged, not really sure how else to explain it.

With that their small group began to make their way back towards the camp and began to pack everything they could into their packs. Once they had completed that task, they lugged everyone's things back to where the troll horde was supposedly located. The girls were met by Bofur and Nori, whom they had started to bond with on their daylong pony ride.

"Here, we thought you might need these." Nori began as he held up a bow and quiver filled with arrows for Kendall to take. Bofur then added with a laugh as he offered Bryn a pair of daggers, "Just so if you get in another tricky situation you won't be as easily caught."

Bryn accepted the two daggers from Bofur and Kendall all but snatched the bow and arrows from Nori. The two were quiet for a moment as they inspected their new weapons. Bryn's knives appeared to have been crafted by rather skilled smith, but their origin could not be determined. While Kendall's bow had been elegantly craved and tillered by wood elves.

"I held my own quite nicely for not having a weapon. If it wasn't for chuckle nut over there I could have stalled until dawn." Kendall said, haughtily as she fashioned the quiver over her shoulder.

"Well, you didn't know they'd turn to stone." Bryn pointed out, waving her new daggers around. Kendall and the dwarves jumped away when one almost flew out of her hand. Shaking her head at her friend, Kendall responded. "Either way, I could have done it."

"Sure." Bryn said, disbelievingly, as she buckled the daggers' sheath around her waist like a belt.

"Hey, just because you knew it was bull, doesn't mean those shit for brains did." Kendall argued. Bryn laughed at her friend and began to walk away. "And we need to work on your poker face." Kendall said following her. The group of dwarves just looked after them curiously.

"Something's coming." Someone shouted.

"Stay together." Gandalf commanded, the girls didn't think twice before latching on to one another. "Hurry now, arm yourselves." The wizard continued. The girls looked dumbly down at their weapons.

"Stick them with the pointy end?" Kendall said with a forced laugh.

"Yeah, but if we make it through this, you need to learn how to aim." Bryn informed her friend as the two girls followed the group away from the cave. They stopped in a small clearing in the dense woods and prepared for the worse as a loud rustling tore through the trees. Within a few moments a large sled pulled by a dozen rabbits broke through trees and bushes and came to a stop in front of them. A dirty crazed looking man stood on the sled shouting incomprehensibly. The whole group was tense, except for Gandalf who greeted this strange, homeless looking man, with a kind of fondness, "Radagast, Radagast the Brown."

"Drugs, not even once." Kendall joked causing Bryn to grin at the reference from her spot to her right and then inquired, "What do you think his drug of choice is?"

"Although, he's paranoid enough for it. I don't think its weed." Kendall said as she watched the brown-cloaked wizard as she noticed bird crap was coating the left side of his face.

"Crack?" Bryn suggested.

"Nah, too intense. What's a basic drug you can get in the middle of the woods?" Kendall asked looking at Bryn. A second later they both grinned and said together, "Shrooms."

The two began to giggle as Kendall began to quote one of the web shows they used to watch together, "It's going to take a lot more than tea to get all the water out of this boat I'm suddenly in."

But their laughter was soon brought to a halt as they watched with disgust twisting their faces as Radagast pulled a stick bug out of his mouth. The girls shuddered and didn't even dare to wonder how this strange wizard had ended up with an insect in his mouth. Sure, he looked like a hippie hobo but that didn't mean he had to offer himself as a home for small organisms right?

"Ew, did he just pull a bug out of his mouth?" Kendall asked.

"That might be grosser than the trolls." Bryn declared, pretending to retch on her friend, who recoiled laughing. The two sat laughing for a while Bofur soon joining their merriment and lighting up his pipe, not knowing how long they would be there while Radagast and Gandalf spoke. Bryn looked curiously at the pipe. After a moment Bofur raised an eyebrow at her in question.

"Can I try?" She asked the miner, innocently.

Kendall rolled her eyes at her friend knowing that, especially while drunk, she could smoke like a chimney. Bofur nodded and passed the pipe, where Bryn inhaled so strongly Kendall thought she would go cross-eyed. Bryn exhaled and passed the pipe back and after noticing her friends judging look she stuck out her tongue, causing Kendall to laugh once more.

Suddenly a howl sounded in the distance. Bofur jumped to his feet and grabbed his pickaxe. All the other dwarves also sprang into action, grasping onto their respective weapons and as they prepared to strike at whatever beast who dared to draw too close to their vicinity.

"Was that a wolf? Are there wolves out there?" Bilbo asked as he, frantically, looked around in search of the source of the sound.

"Wolves? No, that is not a wolf?" Bofur rejected, also looking around for the source of the sound. There was a low growl and huge wolf-like beast leapt into the clearing and tackled Dwalin to the ground. Thorin, instantly, took a swipe at it with his large sword. Another one came up behind Thorin and Kíli let loose an arrow into the beast's hide where Dwalin finished it off with his axe.

"Warg scouts." Thorin growled as he ripped his sword out of the first warg's neck. "Which means an orc pack is not far behind."

"Orc pack?" Bilbo gulped, nervously. At this point, the hobbit was practically trembling in fear.

Gandalf turned to face the company's leader and demanded, "Who did you tell about your quest, beyond your kin?"

"No one."

"Who did you tell?!" The wizard continued to pry.

"No one, I swear." Thorin insisted. "What in Durin's name is going on?"

"You are being hunted." The wizard informed the group, simply.

"We are so gonna die today." Bryn whimpered and Kendall couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"We have to get out of here." Dwalin commanded.

"We can't, we don't have any ponies, and they bolted." Ori informed everyone, running toward the rest of the company. But Radagast stepped up with a determined look upon his face, "I'll draw them off."

"Oh, great, the drugged up woodland fairy is going to distract a bunch of bloodthirsty demon wolves." Kendall stated, sarcastically.

"Well, you know they use rabbits to start dog races." Bryn reminded the brunette.

"True that." The two had to jump back as the sleigh team of rabbits took off with Radagast on the back of the wooden sled. The group looked on to where the wizard had disappeared and Bryn spoke up, "Well, damn that was fast…"

"That's what she said." Kendall chuckled, trying to lighten up the situation. But various glares from the dwarves around her prevented her from continuing on.

"Come on." Dwalin reached out and grabbed the two of them pushing them forward. The group quickly broke into a run as they neared the edge of the forest. It opened up into a wide expanse of rocky grasslands. The group made a run for the nearest outcropping as they weaved in, out and around the boulders as they tried to avoid being seen by the large orc pack that Radagast seemed to be leading in circles.

"He has got to be on drugs. No one has that short of an attention span," Bryn declared as they hid behind the large rock and Kendall nodded, panting as she tried to catch her breath. "You know you wouldn't have this problem if you had joined the track team with me."

The group started running again, only to turn and run the opposite direction when Radagast flew by. They ducked behind another rock formation.

"Fuck you." Kendall panted as she managed to wheeze out, "And fuck your damn track team."

Bryn laughed shortly but instantly stopped when Thorin threw her a dirty look. They, quickly, scrambled to the next rock and ducked behind it. But they didn't dare move because an orc astride a warg jumped onto the rock face above them and sniffed the air, searching for their scent. Thorin looked, expectantly, to Kíli then, to her utter dismay, Kendall and gestured to their arrows. Kendall gulped and looked to Kíli for guidance. He pointed to himself then toward the ground. Then he pointed to Kendall and toward the sky. She could only guess that he meant 'I'll hit low, you hit high'. She nodded at him and pulled an arrow off her back notching it. She looked to Bryn briefly who gave her a worried look before she and Kíli stepped away from the rock and let their arrows fly.

Their arrows managed to hit their marks, Kíli's went through the warg's eye, killing it instantly and Kendall's flew straight through the orc's neck. The two beasts fell to the ground at the company's feet. And the group let out a sigh of relief.

"ALRIGHT! WOO!" Kendall shouted in celebration then realizing what she had done she clamped her hand to her mouth. Everyone turned to glare at her as they heard howling in the background, quickly getting closer. She gulped and apologized to the group, "Shit. My bad."

"RUN!" Gandalf shouted. Bryn ran forward and grabbed Kendall's wrist, sprinting after the surprisingly agile old wizard.

The company ran followed the wizard through a cluster of pine trees, hoping that the small woods would slow up the pack that was storming towards them. But as the wizard led them further away from the Orcs, it became more apparent that he was leading them somewhere. However, it wouldn't be enough because soon they pinned between a rock formation and the orc pack had managed to catch up to them.

"We're surrounded." Fíli announced as he and his brother began to dispatch any Orcs or wargs that dared to come to close to them. He, then, whirled around to face the rest of the group and inquired, "Where's Gandalf?"

"He's abandoned us!" Dwalin growled as the Orcs edged closer to the pinned group. But Thorin didn't appear to be ready to give up that easily as he drew his sword, "Hold your ground!"

The girls and Bilbo were shuffled towards the back of the group as the dwarves prepared to fight off the orc pack. They turned as they heard a shuffling from behind them and saw Gandalf pop up from a hole in the rocks, "This way, you fools!"

Bryn and Kendall didn't hesitate to follow the wizard as they quickly slid down into what appeared to be an underground tunnel. The dwarves and Bilbo followed suit, not wasting any time as they tried to get to safety. The girls huddled together as they heard Gandalf began to count off the dwarves as the slid down the rock. Just after Thorin and Kíli rejoined the group, the sound of a horn filled the air above them. The thunderous pounding of many hooves followed shortly after and a commotion appeared to be taking place in the clearing above.

The girls let out a startled shout as an orc topped down into the tunnel with them. All the dwarves pointed their weapons at the unmoving body until they were certain it was dead. Thorin moved forward to examine the lifeless creature and frowned as he removed an arrow head from it's flesh.

"Elves." He announced as he looked over the weapon, but everyone's attention was drawn away from their leader as Dwalin called from further down the tunnel, "I cannot see where the pathway leads. Do we follow it or not?"

"Follow it, of course," Bofur informed the grizzled warrior as he pushed both Bryn and Kendall to ahead of him. The rest of the company filed in behind them when they saw that they really didn't have any other choice. They knew that they had to trust Gandalf to deliver them safely away from their foe, but it was uncertain where he was leading them.

The tunnel soon opened up and sun trickled down into the crevice that the pathway had been craved into. Kendall, who was following directly behind Dwalin, began to study the older dwarf. She noticed that he had tattoos inked into the top of his balding head and she could help but comment, "Nice tats."

The dwarf, merely, grunted not really acknowledging her words. So Kendall decided to press on, "Why did you get them?"

"They are a badge of honor." He informed her, simply, casting a look back over his shoulder at the brunette girl.

"Really? Are you some kind of war hero or something? Or are you just trying to make the most of your baldness?" Kendall continued to pry as her curiosity managed to get the better of her. She found herself fascinated by him for some reason and wanted to know more about the large dwarf.

The dwarf let out a growl when he heard her 'bald' comment. The girl's chatter now visibly irritating him but he still managed to inform her, "I have fought for my people. But I used to have a Mohawk back then."

"That's awesome." Kendall grinned, even if she knew that he couldn't see her. She shielded her eyes as the end of the tunnel could clearly be seen. She felt a small tug on the hem of her shirt and Bryn whispered in her ear, "Don't go near the light!"

Kendall couldn't decide whether she wanted to laugh at the blonde's antics or swat her for making such a stupid comment. But she didn't have time to act either way because they were soon exiting the tunnel and immersed into the full intensity of the afternoon light once more. Bryn's eyes were the first to adjust and her jaw fell slack at the sight before her, "Holy shit."

The valley was lush and green below them as many waterfalls cascaded down from mountain streams. Glistening above the trees was a beautiful, shimmering city nestled into the cliffs. Birds chirped around them and the sudden peace felt foreign compared to the chaos they had been plunged into before. The dwarves all seemed as equally amazed as the girls at the sight before them but it was Gandalf, who spoke up,

"Welcome to the valley of Imladris. In the common tongue, it is known by another name.

The girls shared a look as huge grins spread across their lips and they said together, "Rivendell."


	4. Chapter 4: Murder Us Some Chickens

We do not own The Hobbit or any of J.R.R. Tolkien's works. Or Any of the songs mentioned in this story. The only things we own are Bryndle and Kendall.

Cowritten with Concrete Bubbles.

Major thanks from both Concrete Bubbles and I for all the reviews! It's so awesome and it's really appreciated! Looking forward to seeing what you think of this chapter!

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: Murder Us Some Chickens, Please?<p>

_The valley was lush and green below them as many waterfalls cascaded down from mountain streams. Glistening above the trees was a beautiful, shimmering city nestled into the cliffs. Birds chirped around them and the sudden peace felt foreign compared to the chaos they had been plunged into before. The dwarves all seemed as equally amazed as the girls at the sight before them but it was Gandalf, who spoke up,_

"_Welcome to the valley of Imladris. In the common tongue, it is known by another name."_

_The girls shared a look as huge grins spread across their lips and they said together, "Rivendell."_

"Here lies the last homely house, east of the sea." Gandalf continued as he maneuvered his way up to the front of the group along with Thorin, who didn't look extremely pleased to be in an elven realm. Dwarves and Elves didn't exactly get along very well; they never had and probably never would. So for Gandalf to lead a company of dwarves to Rivendell was going to cause some tension among the group. Especially with some of the older one, like Thorin, who immediately charged forward towards the wizard with an accusing tone in his voice, "This was your plan all along."

Gandalf didn't shrink away from the dwarf's voice but instead he stood, firmly by his reasoning, "We need food, for one thing, and some rest in reasonable safety." The grey wizard, then, turned away from the group and looked up into the mountains above the city, "It is also very necessary to tackle the Misty Mountains by the proper path or else you will get lost in them."

None of the dwarves argued with his point. They all knew that traveling through the Misty Mountains was dangerous business for anyone, who attempt to across them. They also wouldn't pass up the opportunity for a good meal and restful night's sleep. The company had grown weary since they had set out form the Shire. Bilbo seemed particularly eager to venture into the city considering this was his first experience meeting elves even after he had read so much about them in his books. Bryn and Kendall, however, had seen the city before on a television screen but were totally blown away by the magnificence of it in person. They weren't nearly as exhausted as the rest of the company but they were in dire need of a bath.

"You think that the Elves will give our quest their blessing? They will try to stop us." Thorin protested as he pushed himself towards the front of the group. The girls' ears perked up when the word 'quest' left the dwarf's lips. They shared a curious glance because no one had mentioned to them that they were on a quest. Of course, they still weren't really part of the group so why they would they tell them anything about what they were doing.

Gandalf motioned for the group to follow him as they descended down into the valley as he instructed, "Of course, they will. But we also have questions that need to be answered. If we are to be successful we will need to handle this with tact, and respect, and no small degree of charm, which is why you will leave the talking to me."

Bryn and Kendall were both, uncharacteristically, quiet as they followed the others down the path and into Rivendell. They were in complete awe of how breathtaking the city actually was. It was way more impressive than either of them could have ever imagined. It actually felt like they were walking in the movie. But everything felt so pure and crisp and fresh, but there a fluttering feeling that flickered through the air. It made the girls feel like there was some sort of magical enchantment floating around them and they weren't at all wrong. There was magic in this realm but it wasn't just any kind of magic; it was Elven magic, of course.

The only thing that managed to snap the girls out of their amazed stupor was the stone bridge that crossed over the river-craved canyon between the city and the mountains. But what startled them the most was that there were no handrails on the said bridge. Frantically the girls linked arms.

"Holy shit, we're going to die." Bryn hissed looking down, but quickly looked forward having a rush of vertigo.

"But look how far down it goes." Kendall wondered leaning over slightly peering down into the depths. Bryn jerked her friend upright, "You're going to get us killed you idiot."

"You're so mean to me." Kendall whined, mockingly with a grin. Bryn glared at her as they continued across the bridge. The girls followed the dwarves off the bridge with a breath of relief and onto a circular platform. Everyone began to wonder around the area trying to inspect their surroundings even closer. But they didn't have a chance to explore any further because an elf began to descend down the stone stairs at the far end of the platform.

"Mithrandir." The dark haired elf dressed in a plum robe greeted the wizard from the bottom of the staircase. The dwarves seemed to become immediately suspicious of the taller beings and began to mutter amongst themselves as they watched the elves with mistrust in their eyes. The elf continued to speak in elvish.

Bryn leaned over to her friend and asked, "What do you think he's saying?"

"I don't know." Kendall informed her with a smirk, "Apparently, I don't speak girl."

The girls burst out into a fit of giggles, which caused the dwarves closest to them to send them skeptical looks. They didn't pay them any mind because everyone was automatically put on high alert when a horn echoed through the valley and hooves thundered just off into the distance, steadily growing louder. The company turned around to see a cavalry of elves in armor trotting across the bridge towards them. Sensing that a threat was coming their way, the dwarves began to shout orders at one another and close ranks. Bofur and Dwalin managed to shove Bilbo and the girls into the middle of their armed circle like they were a group of elephants protecting their young. The horseman circled around the mismatched group of travelers causing the dwarves to push closer together, but it was for nothing because the leader cast a friendly smile towards the grey wizard and greeted him, "Gandalf."

The wizard sent the elf a similar smile of his own as he moved to greet the elf, "Lord Elrond." He, then, bowed and the two began to converse in elvish, leaving everyone who didn't speak the language out of the loop once again.

Lord Elrond was quick to get off his horse and made his way to hug Gandalf before he stated in the common tongue, "Strange for orcs to come so close to our borders. Something or someone has drawn them near." He held up an orc blade wrapped in something similar to a burlap sack to Gandalf before he handed it off to first elf, who had greeted the group upon their arrival.

"Ah," Gandalf began as he gestured to the group standing in the middle of the platform, "That may have been us."

As if on cue, Thorin stepped forward from his place between Dwalin and Nori. Everyone held their breath as they watched the interaction between the two leaders. The dwarves were waiting for some kind of insult to be given towards while the girls watched on in fascination because they were in the presence of Lord Elrond. The elf responsible for summoning the council of the ring and creating the fellowship that would set off to destroy it. For them, it felt as if they had entered a movie just to see the elf in persons.

"Welcome Thorin, son of Thráin." The elf Lord greeted the broody dwarf with a kind expression. The dwarf offered Lord Elrond a small nod before he pointed out, "I do not believe we have met."

The elf paid no mind to Thorin's slight hostile attitude he continued on, "You have your Grandfather's bearing. I knew Thrór when he ruled under the Mountain."

The girls' ears perked up when they heard that Thorin's grandfather had been a ruler of some kind of dwarven realm. This only made them more curious to find out what the quest was about and why the journey was so important to this group of dwarves. Part of them wanted to see where this journey might end, simply because they felt like it would lead them to answers that would help them find their way back to their world. Or they, at least, hoped that they would be able to find a way back at some point.

The grizzly voice of the red headed, Glóin growled and stepped forward after Elrond finished speaking in elvish to Thorin, "What is he sayin'? Does he offer us insult?"

"No, Master Glóin," Gandalf rebutted the feisty dwarf, "He's offering you food, clothing, and a place to rest."

The wizard's words caused the dwarves to huddle up and discuss the Elf Lord's offer. But it didn't take long for them to decide that it was best that they take it as Glóin stepped forward and said, "Ah, well. In that case, lead on."

The company was led out onto a veranda where a meal awaited them. The girls immediately recognized this place as the terrace where the Council of Elrond had taken place in _the Fellowship of the Ring. _They were amazed at how accurate the movie's portrayal of this place with a few minor exceptions, of course. Before they were seated, Bofur stepped up to the pair, "Are you lass alright? Ya look like you've seen a ghost?"

"_A ghost you say, a ghost may be. She was just like a ghost to me. One minute there, then she was gone." _Kendall sang in reply, in rather joking manner before she made her way over to one of the tables that had been set up for them to dine at.

Bofur raised his brow at the remaining girl as if he was waiting for an explanation at Kendall's odd song. Bryn only shook her head and waved him off, "You could say that this place is very similar to places we've seen in our home."

The miner seemed to accept her lame explanation and marched off to join the others at the tables, who had already began to dig into their freshly prepared salads and fruits. Bryn sighed with relief having felt like she had just dodged a bullet. But as she moved to grab a seat, she was intercept by none other than Lord Elrond.

"Greetings, small one. My name is Elrond and I am the Lord of Rivendell. I believe that I have never met another of your kind before." He informed her, politely, before he pointed out, "I have known many men before but none have been as unique as you and your friend are."

Bryn blushed and shifted her feet, nervously as she tried to glance around the elf to get some support from Kendall, but the brunette was too busy eating and joking around with Nori and Kili to notice her silent plea for help. With slight anticipation, she looked back to the elf Lord and informed him, "I'm Bryndle. Yes, I suppose, we are unique being as small as we are. Many have never seen our kind before, we do not normally travel across the sea to Arda."

"You are from across the sea?" The elf appeared to be skeptical of her but didn't voice his opinion on the topic, "Well, in that case, why did you and your friend travel so far away from your home?"

"Well, we…" Bryn trailed off, trying to compose her thoughts enough that she didn't accidentally blow their cover, "We were bored and wanted to see the world beyond our lands. So logically, coming here was the wisest choice to quench our need for adventure."

"If it is adventure you see, then adventure you shall receive in the company of Thorin Oakenshield." Elrond informed her, his voice sounded far off and his gaze was vacant, "Be weary, your choices have the power to change the outcome of their quest."

The elf Lord, then bowed and made his leave of her before, she had the chance to ask him what he had meant. This left the petite girl perplexed and more confused than before. She knew that elves often spoke in riddles, but the ominous tone in Elrond's voice seemed to carry much greater meaning than she ever expected for it to. After all, she was just a common girl from earth who happened to end up in Middle Earth with her friend after some bizarre incident. She tried to shake it off as she made her way towards the tables to join her friend, but she could still feel them haunting her even above the dwarves' rambunctious and appalling table manners.

"Hey, where've you been?" Kendall inquired from her seat between Bofur and Nori as she poked around at her salad.

Bryn shrugged and shook her head, knowing that this wasn't the time or place to discuss what Lord Elrond had said to her. She wasn't even sure if she should share it with Kendall or if it was for her knowledge alone. Kendall raised her eyebrow at her friend's strange behavior but decided to let it go until they had a chance to get away from the dwarves. She knew that something was bothering Bryn and she was going to find out what even if she had to torture and pry her friend to tell her.

Bryn send a silent pray of thanks to whatever god would listen because she didn't want to cause a scene in from of all the dwarves and elves. She wanted to wait until her mind had been able to process it more before she spoke of her short but strange conversation with Elrond. After that, she attempted to eat a little of the salad before her, but it only made her wish for something more filling to help settle her nerves like a steak from Texas Roadhouse or something. But she wasn't the only displeased with the elves' choice of food as the dwarves picked their own salads apart with apparent frowns.

"Try it. Just a mouthful." Dori's voice urged his younger brother to try a leaf of what appeared to be a leak that Ori was inspecting in his hand. Ori pouted and shook his head before he dropped it back on his plate, "I don't like green food."

Dwalin would had tore his green apart and clutch about half of it in his large hands looked to the others and demanded, loudly, "Where's the meat?"

"Do they have any chips?" Ori inquired, hopefully as he looked around to try and find some. Kendall nodded in agreement, having never really liked salads of any kind, "I second that notion. I don't recall having signed up for a vegan diet when I came here."

Bryn snorted and shook her head at her friend, "Elves' don't eat meat out of respect for the environment and other forms of life."

"Oh, it wouldn't have killed them just to butcher a couple chickens for us. Now, would it?" Kendall complained, waving off her friend's insight because she wasn't about to look like a fool in front of these dwarves for the second time in one day.

The meal concluded without any incidents and the company was whisked off by several of Elrond's servants to be shown where they would be staying during their time in Rivendell. At this point, the girls were separated from the men as they were shown to their rooms, which were located in a different wing. A young elf maid led to a pair of hand craved, double doors before stating, "This is where you'll be staying. I hope everything is pleasing to you. If you need anything, let myself or one of the others know and we will have it taken care of for you." The elf bowed to the girls, simply before she strolled away as she took her leave of them.

Bryn and Kendall shared a look before they each moved to push a door open to reveal their room. They both blinked in awe at how beautiful it was. Everything was simple and crafted, skillfully. There was a large canopy bed at the center of the room that looked as if it had been fashion from branches and vines. Two armchairs of similar make had been placed before the bed along with a glass table. A marble washbasin was in the far corner of the room next to an elegant dressing blind. The columns and walls looked like they had vines growing up them towards the ceiling along with various murals of forest scenes and elven lore. But what took their breath away more than anything else was the huge bay window the encompassed the entire back wall of their room. Peering out of it, they could almost see the entirety of Rivendell from their room and it was even more breath taking as the sun began to set, basking the city in purples, reds, and oranges.

After they had taken in the beauty of their room, Kendall turned to Bryn, "So what had you so spooked during dinner? You didn't hardly talk at all or eat for that matter."

Bryn inhaled, deeply as she thought of a way to best phrase her experience, but she settled on, "Elrond spoke with me."

"Elrond? As in the Lord Elrond. The one who's in charge of this place?" Kendall inquired, her eyes wide in shock having been taken back by her friends disclosure. Bryn, simply, nodded to confirm it, "The very same."

Blinking, Kendall's jaw dropped even further before she recovered, slightly, "Dude, no wonder why you didn't say anything. I wouldn't know what to say after an encounter like that."

Bryn nodded in agreement once again before she revealed, "Yes, but don't worry. He doesn't know. He's suspicious but seemed to expect that we were just travelers from a far away land across the sea."

"Well, that's a relief." Kendall sighed, wiping the faint sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, "What else did he say?"

Bryn opened her mouth and then closed it before sitting down in one of the armchairs to collet she, unsure of the best way to tell her friend just exactly what the elf lord had conveyed to her. Kendall folded her arms over her chest and waited, as patiently as she could for an answer until Bryn decided to share with her, "Elrond believes that our choices will affect the outcome of the company's quest."

"Our choices? Really?" Kendall dismissed her friend with a wave, "We don't even know what this quest is about and he thinks we can change their fate?"

Bryn shrugged before pointing out, "Well, they could've been eaten by trolls if we hadn't helped them out."

"You mean my wits helped them out." Kendall reminded as she sat down opposite of her blonde friend. Bryn rolled her eyes and before she glared at her friend, "If it hadn't been for me, you would've done nothing. I, simply, gave you the encouragement to do what you do best. Which make it my idea."

"Whatever." Kendall rejected, but didn't have a chance to argue further because there was a small knock that sounded on their door.

Bryn sighed and got up from her seat to go see, who was there. She figured that it might've been Bofur or Nori stopping by to check on them, considering they were the closest to the girls. But to her surprise, it wasn't one of the dwarves. It was the company's burglar.

"Bilbo?" Bryn inquired with a raised eyebrow, "What are you doing here?"

The hobbit looked around, nervously, before he looked at the petite girl in front of him, "I-I wanted. I-I thought that- That I would see what you knew of the quest."

"You mean the quest the you, Gandalf, and the dwarves are on?" Kendall questioned, having hopped up from the bed when she heard that the Halfling was the one at the door.

Bilbo looked around before he nodded, "Yes."

The girls shared a look before they pulled the poor hobbit into their room. Kendall was quick to lock the door behind them. They didn't want anything to interrupt Bilbo as he spoke to them.

The three outcast of the group stood in the center of Bryn and Kendall's as they listened to Bilbo spill the beans about the dwarves' quest. He recounted how he had been chosen by Gandalf to be the Company's burglar but he didn't really want to be. But the Tookish side of him wouldn't let him ignore this opportunity so he went on this unexpected adventure to help the dwarves' reclaim their stolen kingdom of Erebor from a huge dragon called, 'Smaug'. After that, he began to babble on about some of the thing Bofur had went describing the beast and how it caused him to faint, but the girls had other interests.

"So you're telling us, the dwarves are going to reclaim their stolen kingdom from a dragon?" Bryn inquired with a skeptical look on her face.

Bilbo nodded before he elaborated, "Yes, Thorin is heir to this kingdom and it's his right to reclaim it. They are doing it now because of a prophecy that said the time is right. They have a key and a map to a back door that would allow them to sneak into the mountain."

The girls shared a look before Kendall spoke up, "Which is why they have you? You're going to go find out if the dragon is alive or not and how much gold is down there."

Bilbo, visibly paled at her statement, but nodded all the same, "Yes, I'm afraid that's what I'm here for. And to get them whatever jams they might get themselves in suppose."

The girls looked to one another look. When they had found out they were in Middle Earth, they hadn't expected to be on a quest to reclaim some long lost kingdom from a fire breathing dragon. Sure, they figured it would be something noble like the quest to destroy the ring, but they hadn't expected a real live dragon to be involved. That was way cooler than going to drop some ring into a volcano. They were going to a real life, fire breathing, man eating dragon. That was something they never thought could or would happen to them.

"I'm afraid. I don't know what else to tell you since I don't know much more about it myself." Bilbo informed the girls, awkwardly and breaking them from their train of thought. Bryn and Kendall, both nodded in understanding as Bilbo began to make his way to the door, "Don't tell anyone I told you. Please, I'd rather not have to face the fury of Thorin."

"You and me both, buddy." Kendall agreed as she closed the door once the Hobbit had exited the room. Her eyes were wide and her grin almost sparkled in the candlelight as a mischievous look took over her face, "OH MY GOD!"

"I know." Bryn agreed, breathlessly. Her legs had been trembling since Bilbo had first told them about Smaug. She wasn't nearly as gung-ho about this as Kendall was.

"Dude!" Kendall exclaimed as she jumped around the room, "We're gonna get to see a real life dragon. Not some made up one." Kendall could hardly contain a squeal of excitement as she thought that possibility.

But Bryn was quick to rein her back in, "Dude! We haven't even been invited to go with them. Remember? They agreed to take us to the closest town. They are gonna leave us here and go on their merry way."

Kendall paused, she hadn't thought about that. She had assumed that if they won over some of the dwarves and they had, that they might be able to accompany them. There was nothing else; she'd rather do that go with them on this quest. So instead of caving into her friend's words, she decided to look more positively on it, "Logistics."

"Kenny, do you really want to fight a dragon?" Bryn inquired with a are-you-sure-you-want-to-do-this look on her face.

Kendall rolled her eyes at her blonde friend as if it was obvious, "Duh! I mean, come on, Brynnie. This is our one chance to see a mythological creature and you don't wanna try to go."

"I'm just saying I'd rather not take a chance on getting barbecued." Bryn admitted, knowing that she was much more a coward than her friend was.

"Well, if I go. Are you going to stay here with the elves?" Kendall question, as she tried to lure her friend into wanting to come with her. She knew that they were going to need each other if they were going to survive this world and make it back to their own.

Bryn almost looked applaud by the thought, "Hell no, you're not gonna leave me here alone. I'll come with you if I have to."

Her words caused Kendall to grin with a triumphant look on her face, "Good. Now, that that's settled, let's get some shuteye. We've got some dwarves to start convincing tomorrow."

The blonde only rolled her eyes at the brunette but didn't say anything to argue as they blew out all the candles and stripped down the bedding before climbing into bed. It didn't take long for sleep to find the girls because they passed out almost as soon as their heads touched the pillows. The past couple days had been a huge surprise and culture shock for both them. Neither of them had expected to wake in Middle Earth, stumble upon a company of dwarves, and almost get eaten by trolls, chased by orcs, and end up in Rivendell. With all the events that had taken place, their bodies were exhausted and in desperate need of a good night sleep. Whatever laid in the path ahead of them couldn't be tackled the next day.


	5. Chapter 5: Increasingly Awkward

We do not own The Hobbit or any of J.R.R. Tolkien's works. Or Any of the songs mentioned in this story. The only things we own are Bryndle and Kendall.

Cowritten with Concrete Bubbles.

Major thanks from both Concrete Bubbles and I for all the reviews!

We also would like to apologize for not updating for a while. Life has gotten away from us, but we are hoping this will make up for our absence.

ENJOY!

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

"God, where is everyone?" Bryn asked. "This is the last time we fall asleep without checking in first."

The pair had slept in much later than they had intended to, but at least they were well rested and more relaxed than they had been before. It was by far the best rest they had gotten since they had popped up in Middle Earth and sleeping in was worth it. However, when they had woken up this morning, they had no idea where their companions might be. So now they were left with the task of tracking them down.

"I don't know but let's find them quick before Bilbo corners us again to mope about the trip." Kendall replied as the two quickly made their way out of the building they were staying in.

They walked around as they searched for the dwarves, stopping once to ask an elf if they had seen them. They were pointed off in the direction the dwarves were last seen. They could hear them before they could see them, their raucous laughter echoing off the stone statues throughout the garden-like area. The girls rounded the corner but stopped immediately in their tracks. Standing in front of them were twelve, mostly naked and very wet dwarves. They were all joking around as they attempted to climb out of the fountain they had been supposedly bathing in.

"OH MY GOD!" Bryn screamed covering her eyes. Kendall stood there slack jawed and wide eyed. All the dwarves instantly seized up and turned to face the two. The elder dwarves had already been half dressed, but some of the younger ones were too in shock to do anything other than attempt to cover themselves. Ori dove back into the fountain and went under the water until only his eyes and nose were showing. Kíli, however, just stared, shocked at them he didn't make a move to cover himself. Fili, unlike his brother, who was, awkwardly, walking to his pile of clothes, trying not to expose himself.

Kendall looked up and down at Kíli. "Two hands there, sporto." He shook his head and instantly put his hands down, to cover himself, his whole body turning bright red.

"Kendall, stop looking." Bryn hissed as her face morphed into a bright red tomato while she subtly peeked through her fingers as she managed to catch a glimpse of Fíli's ass as he turned away from them to pull on his pants.

"Fine, we'll let you guys finish your business. Sorry to interrupt your guy time." Kendall said, trying to sound disappointed as they turned around. "See you all later." She said, waving as they walked away.

"Did you really have to look?" The dwarves could hear Bryn shrieking at Kendall as the pair retreated from view. At this point, the men's heartbeats were finally beginning to return to their normal paces.

"It's not like you didn't see it too." Kendall rebutted their voices trailing off.

Bryn huffed and sent a pointed look at her friend, "Well, at least I shut my eyes."

Kendall rolled her eyes and shook her head at the blonde walking beside her. But then, she paused when a thought came to her and a wry smile blossomed on her lips, "Riigghhhtt, that's exactly what you did."

"What? I didn't see anything," Bryn defended herself even when she knew that she was doing a very poor job at it.

Kendall snorted, "Okay, go ahead and try to tell me that you weren't peaking through your fingers."

"I- I did not!" Bryn blushed, hating that she was such a bad liar and she hated that her friend knew her so well.

"LIAR!" Kendall accused as the girls made their way back to their rooms, "You were totally peaking."

"So what? I'm human." She admitted, knowing that denying it would only drag this out longer than it needed to be and she desperately wanted to forget most of what she had just seen.

Kendall rolled her eyes and shook her head once more at the blonde, "Yeah, well, so am I. I have needs. So why don't you get off your high horse and stop getting on me for doing something that was only natural."

"You didn't have to be so obvious about it." Bryn hissed as they entered their room and flopped down onto one of the chairs in front of their canopy bed.

"Well, I'm sorry I was caught off guard." Kendall huffed as she fell onto the bed itself.

Bryn waved off her friend, "That's an excuse."

"But did you see Kíli's package… DAMN SON!" Kendall fanned herself off as she thought about the handsome, young dwarf and the things she would do to his body alone.

"Did you see Fíli's ass?" Bryn gushed, joining in on Kendall's hen fest.

"More like dat ass." Kendall pointed out, which caused both girls to burst into fits of laughter. Bryn nodded in agreement her eyes tearing up as she laughed, "I'd smack that."

"_Shake that ass for me. Shake that ass for me._" Kendall belted out causing Bryn to fall from her chair and roll around with laughter.

They continued to laugh at the expense of their dwarven friends until a knock came from their door. Getting up off the floor, Bryn tried to straighten herself as moved to answer the door. She opened the door to reveal a dark haired elf maid on the other side.

"Lord Elrond wishes you to join him along with your other companions for dinner this evening on his terrace." She stated, simply her hands folded, neatly in front of her, "If you wish, I can have a warm water drawn so that you can bathe before you join the others."

The girls looked one another and cringed, slightly as they noticed just how disheveled they were before Bryn nodded and said, "Yes, that sounds like heaven."

The elf maid nodded and moved into the girls adjoining bathroom to draw them water for their baths. Once she completed her task she left without another word. Kendall leaped from the bed and ran into the bathroom before Bryn could even think about moving because she knew that the blonde would take forever if she went first. She managed to wash up fairly quickly and was out in almost no time. When she emerged from the bathroom, Bryn ran into the room and slammed the door. Kendall was happy to find that elf maid had returned with clean sets of clothes for them to wear and wasted no time in changing into them.

After what felt like forever, Bryn emerged from her bath looking fresh and clean. She moved to change and then they were finally ready to join the rest of the company for dinner with Lord Elrond

.

"Did you have to take so long to have a bath?" Kendall asked, "We're late for dinner."

"I'm sorry if I wanted to procrastinate so we wouldn't have to see them all so soon. I don't think I can function after seeing Bofur's penis." Bryn admitted as shiver ran down her spine.

"Awe and here I thought you wanted his 'D.'" Kendall said laughing as they continued to walk to where the dwarves were having dinner.

"I want his hat not his 'D.' Must you bee so crude about everything?" Bryn said trying to withhold her smirk.

"Pretty much, yeah." They made their way to the dining area just as the dwarves broke out in laughter at Kíli's expense. They looked curiously at each other before shrugging and sitting down at the spaces left for them. At their entrance most of the dwarves sobered up and turned red. Bryn and Kendall both began to snicker when they noticed their companions' reactions. The one, who was left out of the joke, was Bilbo, but he was almost certain that he didn't want to know what had happened to cause the dwarves to turn so red and the girls to snicker.

"So what did we miss?" Kendall inquired from her seat next to Dwalin and Nori, neither of whom looked extremely pleased about the seating arrangement.

"Ah nothing much, lass." Bofur was the one who spoke up, "Just havin' a laugh at Kíli taking a shine to elf lads is all."

"So you like to sword fight, eh?" Kendall joked, sending a wink his way, which caused Bryn to snicker from her seat between Kíli and Bofur. The latter of the two was opening his mouth similar to a fish as he tried to protest,

"I thought he was a maid- I didn't know."

Bryn chuckled at his feeble protests, "Whatever you say, brosif." Kíli threw her a sour look, but she ignored him as she snuck a glance at the other table to look at Fíli.

The table fell into uncomfortable silence as everyone picked around at their plates with dissatisfied looks on their faces. Even, Bryn and Kendall didn't appear to be extremely happy with the meal in front of them.

"I don't know about you. But I'm getting tired of all this vegetarian food." Bryn groaned, "I miss the food from home."

"What kind of food do you, lasses, have back in your home?" Bofur inquired through his full mouth.

The girls shared a look before Kendall spoke up, "Well, we have a lot of foods like you guys do. But we have stuff like pizza, which is a pie only with tomato sauce covered with cheese and meat. It's heavenly."

"Oh, don't forget about ice cream. It's divine." Bryn interjected as picked a piece lembas bread with disinterest.

"But you can't have it, so why would you miss it?" Kendall inquired from across the table.

"What do you mean you can't have it?" Kíli inquired as his curiosity got the better of him.

Bryn glared Kendall, who had just inadvertently opened whole other can of worms as she informed them, "It makes me sick. Anything dairy does."

"Well, that's unfortunate." Bofur stated, still munching away at his meal, "Cheese is great."

"I KNOW!" Bryn groaned as she slammed her forehead against the table in frustration.

Everyone jolted at the bang the resounded and several elves moved to see if the strange blonde girl was all right. But she waves them off, "No, no, I'm fine. I was just being overly dramatic. J-just go back to whatever you were doing."

Kendall couldn't help but snicker at her friend as Nori began to complain about the harp music that was being played around them, "Tune it down, why don't you? I feel like I'm at a funeral."

"Funeral?" Óin interjected, as he stuffed a piece of cloth into hearing trumpet, "Did somebody die?"

"Alright, lads, there's only one thing for it." Bofur declared as stood up and proceeded to climbed upon dais in that had been placed between the two tables where he proceeded to belt out,

'_There is an inn, there's an inn,_

_There's a merry old inn_

_Beneath an old grey hill,_

_And there they brew a beer so brown_

_That the Man in the Moon himself came down_

_One night to drink his fill.'_

The dwarves joined either singing or throwing food at one another, which was apparently rather normal habit for them.

'_Oh, the ostler has a tipsy cat_

_That plays a five-stringed fiddle;_

_And up and down he runs his bow,_

_Now squeaking high, now purring low,_

_Now sawing in the middle._

_So the cat and the fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle,_

_A jig that would wake the dead:_

_He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune,_

_While the landlord shook the Man in the Moon:_

_Its after three he said!'_

An awkward silence set in after all the dwarves ceased their yelling and hurtling of food, which seemed to be a universal signal that dinner was now over and the group could go on their merry way for the time being.

The dinner the company shared had ended as blackness began to slowly consume the sky above. The elder dwarves left one by one to head to bed until only Fíli, Kíli, Bofur, Nori, Ori, Bryndle, and Kendall were left. The younger members of the company were far too worked up to turn in just yet. Nori, being the criminal that he is, opened his jacket and passed bottles of wine around to everyone left in the group. They slowly began to sip on the sweet liquid, until Bryn jumped up and turned to grin at Kendall who was making faces at Ori, the latter desperately trying to escape her gaze.

"Kendall! Where are the cards we made earlier?" Bryn asked, excitedly. Kendall took her fingers out of her mouth and looked up at the blonde.

"On the table at the end of the bed, why?" She asked. All eyes were on the girls now.

"Because we're going to teach them how to play kings." Kendall grinned at her and nodded. Bryn put down her drink and ran from the terrace.

"What's Kings?" Kíli asked putting his bottle down as well.

"It's a drinking game." Kendall said with a smile. Bryn and Kendall had gotten bored earlier that day and wanted to play cards to pass the time. But without having cards of their own, they had been forced to put their heads and skills together to make a deck to play with. So with thick paper, a quill, one of Bryn's daggers, and a little bit of artistic skill had made their own playing cards. Kendall was especially proud of her friend for suggesting Kings because she knew that Kings was Bryn's drinking nemesis. They all awaited the small girl's return. Not five minutes later, she returned in a flurry just as Kendall was attempting to teach the rules to the dwarves.

"Alright let's get this party started!" Bryn declared, sitting down across from and began shuffling the cards to make for a more interesting game, "Everybody get in the circle." Fili and Ori were the first to move and chose to sit on either side of Bryn while Kíli and Nori flanked Kendall. Bofur then wormed his way between Fili and Kili and sat himself down.

"Okay who wants to go first?" Kendall asked as she shuffled a little more after Bryn had handed the deck over to her and set up the game.

"I will, for demonstrational purposes." Bryn offered before she leaned forward and picked up a card. "Six is for dicks!" she shouted. The dwarves all looked confused.

"If you have a penis you have to take a drink, and judging from one of our earlier encounters, all of you do." Kendall explained to them with a sly grin. After they all took a swig, Kendall pointed at Fíli. "Fíli's turn."

"Um, alright." The blonde brother reached forward and took a card. "I got a nine." He said showing the card to the girls. They grinned at each other.

"NINE, NINE BUSTA RHYME!" The girls chimed in unison. "You pick a word and we go around the circle and everyone has to rhyme, if you repeat or can't think of a word you have to drink." Bryn explained. Fili looked to his little brother, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine, floor." Fili began.

"Door." Bofur followed, taking a swig, obviously, not caring about how much alcohol he consumed when he was playing a drinking game.

"More?" Kili said, hesitantly, unsure if his word counted, but when no one told him to drink he relaxed a little bit.

"Shore." Kendal rhymed, effortlessly.

"Store." Nori turned his head toward his younger brother, who sat staring around the circle.

"D-door." He stuttered, slightly overwhelmed by the rapid words being fired off by the other participants.

"That's already been said, ya idiot." Nori scolded, thumping him on the back of the head. "Drink."

"Nori's catching on." Kendall pointed out with a grin.

"Ah, it'll be my turn now." Bofur stated as he reached to pick up a card. He looked at his card before announcing, "Seven."

"Seven Heaven." Bryn exclaimed as she thrust her dainty index finger into the air. Kendall and the other's fell suit, but unfortunately for Ori, he didn't move fast enough. "Drink again Ori." Bryn urged, pushing his bottle of wine toward him as the others laughed at his obvious discomfort.

"Kíli's turn." Bofur stated as he once again took another swig of his wine. The dwarf in question leaned forward and flipped over a card.

"Two is for you. You get to pick someone to drink." Kendall informed the youngest dwarf. Kili, then, turned to her with an impish grin and pointed to her. Kendall rolled her eyes and pulled the bottle to her lips, not breaking eye contact.

Once she was finished, she put her bottle down and grabbed a card. "King, so I get to make a rule." She put her finger to her chin in thought. "You have to make eye contact with someone when you drink, or else you have to take another shot." Bryn groaned at her friend in annoyance she hated that rule.

Nori then reached forward and grabbed his own card. "Ten?" He asked looking to Kendall.

"Ten is categories, pick a category, everyone says something, no repeats." Kendall clarified. Nori took a moment to think.

"Types of axes, battle." He said then turned to his little brother.

"Hatchet?" Ori says unsure. Everyone shrugs and looks to Bryn. She scowled before lifting her bottle up to take a drink and attempted to look the tipsy Bofur in the eyes. Ori grinned, glad that he didn't have to drink, but the grin slid from his face when he noticed it was his turn. Hesitantly he reached forward and picked one. Silently, he showed his card revealing an eight.

"Eight is for date. Pick someone to be your drinking partner. Every time you drink they have to drink as well." Kendall stated. Ori and Bryn flushed a light pink when the young dwarf pointed to her. The other dwarves began to laugh, loudly.

"Fancy yourself a lass, do ya?" Bofur teased the young scribe as he took yet another drink. Bryn, subtly, looked at Fili out of the corner of her eye, to see him laughing along with the others at Ori's expense. The game continued on with all parties getting more and more inebriated. The dwarves, quickly, got the hang of the game and Ori, eventually, loosened up with the large quantity of alcohol that he consumed. The game took a turn of hilarity when Nori drew a Joker. He looked questioningly between the girls.

"That's the joker card, you can dare anyone to do anything." Bryn informed the group as her words slurred slightly.

Kendall decided to clarify some boundaries for the group of rowdy dwarves, "Within reason we can't have anything harmful happen, like jumping off a building, or something."

Nori looked around the group a couple times before landing on Bofur, who was obviously the drunkest of them all. "Go behind that pillar over there and strip down and put that damn hat on your privates and come back to the game." The thief gestured to the ridiculous hat that seemed to never leave Bofur's head (Unless Bryn stole it from him, of course).

With a shrug, Bofur pulled himself up and waddled to the pillar where he began throwing his clothes every which way before coming back with just his hat and a grin. Fíli and Kíli laughed, heartily but quickly moved over when the miner made to sit back down.

"We see you naked far too often, Bofur." Kendall half-groaned as she tried not to focus on the mostly naked dwarf.

But Bofur didn't seem to mind all that much as he sent her a wink and suggestive grin, "You can see it anytime you want lass."

"Now, Bofur, we need to protect the poor maid's innocence." Kíli leaned in and wrapped his arm around her, "You can't be exposing yourself like that all the time."

Kendall looked up at the side of his face. Quickly, she leaned forward onto her knees and licked the side of his face, stopping near his ear. Her actions causing Bryn to face palm because she now knew that her friend was feeling the full effects of the alcohol if she was going to start licking people. The blonde also knew that it was only a matter of time before things got out of hand.

"I'm not that innocent." The brunette whispered into the dark haired dwarf's ear, which caused his eyes, widen and his body to stiffen before he turned to look at her with a shocked expression on his face. She sat back and grinned up at him, "I like to lick people when I'm drunk."

Kíli leaned back startled, his eyes darkening slightly. He stared at her intensely for a moment. Kendall met his gaze and winked at him. Her confidence was much stronger thanks to the alcohol in her system and if they had been back in her world, she probably wouldn't have been able to stop herself from perusing him.

"Be careful she likes to bite, too." Bryn warned with a giggle from across the circle as she watched her friend make eyes at the dwarf.

"Is she always like this when she's drunk?" Fíli inquired from his spot next to her as he, too, watched Kíli and Kendall. The way he said it made it seem like he was concerned for his younger brother's wellbeing, which Bryn thought was rather sweet of him. But she waved him off, "Unfortunately, yes. But she's usually harmless. Usually."

When Kendall's and Kíli's little staring contest was becoming a little too uncomfortable for rest of the group, Bryn took it upon herself to be a cockblock for the sake of getting on with the game,

"ORI'S TURN!"

Her words were enough to pull the two out of their own little world, even if she did earn glares from both of them. She felt like she was doing the rest of the group a service by breaking them apart.

The rest of the game seemed to flow smoothly as dwarves got into it even more now that there was some rhythm to it and they didn't have another stall until the next Joker card, which was drawn by Bofur. He grinned toothily around the circle swaying slightly in his seat. He had since put most of his clothes back on, albeit haphazardly but at least on his body. Bryn who had forgotten the last head the hat was on had taken it from Bofur and wore it on her head. The group just laughed, but wouldn't tell her why. Finally after a moment of deliberation Bofur pointed to Kendall.

"I dare you…" He zoned out for a moment, swaying backwards, before shaking his head and turning back to look at her. "I dare you to go lick an elf. Ya said you like licking things."

"How bout I just bite you. You heard Brynnie dearest. I'm a biter." Kendall argued, snapping her teeth together like a piranha.

Bofur shrugged and then pointed to Kíli, "Go bite him, then. He's already got your saliva all over his face."

Kendall shrugged, before sitting up on her knees and shuffling forward so she was facing Kíli. She pushed his chest making him fall back and forcing him to catch himself on his hands. He looked up at her astonished as she crawled to his lap so she was straddling him. He leaned back so he could place his hands on her hips. She placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned forward until her lips were pressed against her neck. She, then, used her teeth to bite his flesh and licked it with her tongue. His grip on her hips tightening as she continued the assault on his neck.

"WHOOP, WHOOP get it gurl!" Bryn shouted, once again breaking them apart. Kendall attempted to climb off of him but he held her still.

"Alright, Kíli, I think that's enough promiscuity for one evening." Fíli declared, as he got up from his spot beside Bryn and to pull Kíli's hands off Kendall, before he picked up the drunk brunette and placed her on the ground next to his brother. After that he turned to seat next as Kendall began to drunkenly sing,

"_Promiscuous boy, You already know that I'm all yours what you waiting for? Promiscuous girl, you teasing me, I know what you want and I got what you need."_

"DRINKING SONGS!" Bryn shouted, pointing her finger in the air before she looked to her friend and began to bounce in place, "Kendall! Let's sing Piano Man."

"We don't have a piano." Kendall pointed out from her spot in front of Kíli, who was still staring at her and breathing rather heavily.

"Well, get the violin." Bryn suggest before turning to the master thief in their midst, "Nori, go steal a violin."

At his confused look, Kendall decided to clarify for her friend, "Fiddle, it's a fiddle."

He shrugged and walked off. Not five minutes later, he returned and handed a fiddle to Kendall.

"What's this for?" She asked. He grinned at her and laughed.

"You, my fine female, are drunk." He said, taking a swig of his almost empty bottle.

"No shit." Kendall said. Bryn perked up, "Hey, you have a violin!"

"Fiddle." Kendall corrected her once again.

Bryn ignored her and persistently, demanded, "Play Piano man."

"We don't have a Piano." Kendall repeated, trying to make the fact clear to her obviously drunk friend.

"Shit. Play it on the fiddle." Bryn slurred as she unconsciously leaned into Fíli, who's face turned bright crimson with the contact.

"Good thinking."

The group of dwarves sat back and laughed, with the exception of Ori, who had passed out in the corner. But they didn't attempt to join in on the conversation that the girls were having. No, they found it much more entertaining listening to them try to figure out what they were going to do.

"You realize this is going to mostly be acca-shit, acca-ca-ca, Fuck it, without music?" Bryn nodded, absently as Kendall raised the fiddle. It took her a moment to set the fiddle between her shoulder and her chin but once she did, she settled into her normal routine. She moved the bow across the strings and started the first few notes. Bryn began to sing loudly, and slightly off key.

"_It's nine o'clock on a Saturday_

_The regular crowd shuffles in_

_There's an old man sitting next to me_

_Making love to his tonic and gin_

_He says, 'Son can you play me a memory_

_I'm not really sure how it goes_

_But it's sad and it's sweet_

_And I knew it complete_

_When I wore a younger man's clothes'"_

Both Kendall and Bryn belted out the chorus in unison.

"_Sing us a song you're the piano man_

_Sing us a song tonight_

_Well we're all in the mood for a melody_

_And you've got us feeling alright"_

As the sun broke through the clouds the next morning, it bathed the Elven city in it's warm rays and life began to bustle about once more. The sleeping party on the terrace began to stir as the bright morning light fell upon their faces, but it was not enough to rouse them. The group didn't even move when a silent group of elves weaved between them and set out breakfast for the rest of the dwarven company. They were dead to the world around them and as they should be after they had stayed up late into the drinking and singing songs.

The group, who remained had remained on the terrace after they had finished with their merrymaking because they had been far too drunk to attempt to walk back to their chambers. Fíli and Kíli leaned against the stonewall of the terrace, shoulder-to-shoulder with their heads lolling onto their chests. Ori was curled up in the fetal position with Nori using him as a pillow. Nori's feet were propped up on Bofur's chest as he lay upside-down, half on, half off a stone bench. Bryn, still adorning Bofur's hat, lay with her head in Kendall's lap curling in on herself. Kendall lay haphazardly sprawled across the terrace limbs askew with one foot on Fíli and the other on the bench next to Bofur. Making it look like she drunkenly fell off and didn't move.

Balin and Dwalin were the first dwarves to walk in on the scene. They paused not sure what to think, but knew Thorin would be in a sour mood if he saw the group. Balin made to move forward but his younger brother put up a hand to stop him. Balin gave him a curious look when he saw the mischievous grin upon Dwalin's face. As quietly as the large dwarf could manage, he walked over to the table, picking up two pitchers of water before turning toward the sleeping mass. Without a sound, he poured the contents all over the group, laughing as they sat up shocked and screaming.

The group glared up at the older dwarf and struggled to their feet. Kendall and Bryn grabbed their heads and leaned on one another as they made their way to the table. Soon their friends who, by the looks of it, were not hung over joined them. Balin and Dwalin sat down at the opposite table still laughing, mirthfully.

"Ugh, keep it down, why don't you? Some of us don't have the metabolism of dwarves." Bryn groaned, staring at the bowl of fruit in front of her. But didn't have it in her to eat, let alone move.

"Then maybe you shouldn't have tried to outdrink Nori." Bofur said piling food on his plate.

"What?" She asked, in her mind still clouded from the alcohol as her eyes wondered around the terrace.

"Yeah, that was right after Kendall mauled Kíli." Fíli elaborated with a laugh before his eyes strayed to his brother's neck, "Oh look you left a mark." He didn't hesitate to expose the mark even further as he pulled at his brother's collar, who looked anywhere but at Kendall.

"I DID WHAT?!" She screamed before she, frantically, looked up at Kíli's neck to see a large, angry looking, purple hickey standing out against his tanned skin.

Bryn groaned and covered her ears with hands as she rested her forehead against the table top, "Ow, goddamn it. Not so loud."

"I don't remember doing that." Kendall whispered, mainly to herself. Surely, she would've remembered doing something like that to a man who looked like Kíli. Even if she was drunk, she would've remembered that happening.

"I do, and I don't want to because all I remember is you straddling him and then I couldn't see past your ass." Bryn mumbled, taking a drink of water after she forced herself to sit back up.

Kendall felt her face flush from embarrassment before she looked across the table at Kíli, who appeared to be just as red as she was, "Oh my God that is so embarrassing, I am so sorry. I'm just very forward when I'm drunk."

"Forward, lass, you were downright brazen last night." Bofur corrected her, causing her to flush an even deeper shade of red.

Kendall leaned back, stared up at the sky and pleaded to the heavens, "God, please, kill me now."

"I'll kill you if you don't quit talking." Bryn muttered, darkly, gently dropping her head to the table once more, which caused the group to laugh, heartily at the petite girl's expense.


	6. Chapter 6: 'Boundaries'

Chapter 6: The Meaning of the Word 'Boundaries'

We do not own The Hobbit or any of J.R.R. Tolkien's works. Or Any of the songs mentioned in this story. The only things we own are Bryndle and Kendall.

Cowritten with Concrete Bubbles.

Major thanks from both Concrete Bubbles and I for all the reviews!

Sorry, for not updating recently we've been really busy with school and other things. But this week is finals week and we will be free for the summer! Hopefully we will be updating more consistently. Hope everyone enjoys the new chapter!

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><p>"Okay, I understand that we need to learn how to defend ourselves if we are going to stay here, but does it have to be at the asscrack of dawn?" Bryn inquired, stifling a yawn and trying to rub the tiredness from her eyes.<p>

"Sun's out, gun's out." Kendall informed, flashing a sleepy smile to her friend.

"You are ridiculous." Bryn shook her head at Kendall. The two turned back to pay more attention to the path they were taking. They had to stop an elf to ask how to get to the training grounds earlier having forgotten the instructions Dwalin had given them. They were already late and didn't want the aggressive dwarf to be any angrier than he usually is. Eventually the pair made it to a large flat clearing. There were different stations set up for different weapons, and bare areas for hand to hand combat. Targets were hidden all over the arena. Elves and dwarves alike were already practicing. Spying Dwalin's large head the girls hurried over to where he waited with Fíli, and Kíli. Thorin insisted that his best fighters joined the training session, as he didn't want them to get lazy in the Elven city. Dwalin, being the one who has trained the brothers since they were small did not complain at their addition.

Stumbling to a halt in front of him, Bryn and Kendall greeted the bald dwarf with grins. After being chastised for their tardiness, Dwalin had them running around the arena. Bryn led the way with Fíli and Kíli right behind her. Kendall however gave Dwalin a sour look before trotting off in the direction of the others. Kendall made it one lap before giving up when Bryn lapped her laughing. In a mocking fashion Kendall began to moonwalk back toward Dwalin, who glared menacingly at her.

"Honestly Dwally Bear, if you want me to make it through the rest of the day you'd end it with a run not start it." Kendall said. He gave her an odd look and she just grinned back at him. They were soon joined by the others, who were beginning to sweat. Bryn glared at her.

"Kíli, Kendall stand to the side. I'll start with this one." Dwalin growled out and pointed to Bryn, who gulped audibly and stared wide-eyed up at him. Kendall smirked at her before stepping away with Kíli. "Let me see your knives." Dwalin said roughly to Bryn who shakily handed them over. He inspected them thoroughly before hurling it toward the nearest target hitting dead center. Kendall let out a high-pitched scream, as it sailed right by her head. Kíli laughed and threw the knife back where his brother deftly caught it. The two dwarves handed Bryn her daggers and corrected her grip when she awkwardly grabbed them.

"Now, lass, I want you to try to cut Fíli." Dwalin ordered. "Fíli, put down your weapons." Fíli disarmed himself without question.

"Are you crazy? I could kill him." Bryn practically shrieked. The three dwarves looked at her before throwing their heads back in laughter.

"You can try." Fíli stated, arrogantly, puffing out his chest a little, "Now, are you going to attack me or just give up before you embarrass yourself?" Bryn bit her lip hesitantly before lunging at Fíli, who, expertly, dodged her attack. Again and again she swung her blades, but never made progress. "Is that all you've got?" The blonde dwarf teased her. At this point, Bryn was starting to lose patience and Fíli could see the frustration in her eyes. Smirking, he caught her arm and hooked his foot around her ankle and knocked her to the ground.

"Ugh, what was the point of that?" Bryn asked, angrily, embarrassed as she sat on the dusty ground.

"You don't know?" Dwalin asked, trying not to laugh at her agitated expression.

"I know!" Kendall shouted causing Bryn and the dwarves looked over at her. "You were supposed to study him and anticipate his movements."

"Correct." Dwalin said, turning back to Bryn.

"YES! Five points to Hufflepuff." Kendall cheered as the dwarves all gave her queer looks.

"Kíli, why don't you go teach that one the proper archery stance." Dwalin waved them off, anxious to get her away from him. "You, on the ground, I want you to repeat the exercise, but do as your friend said, 'anticipate his movements.'" The two stood and faced each other once again Dwalin the ever-present judge.

Meanwhile Kíli and Kendall stood near some archery targets, Kendall was fumbling around with her bow and arrow, apparently that shot that killed the orc was pure dumb luck. Kíli laughed quietly at her.

"Here let me help." He offered coming closer to her. In the short walk toward her his hair moved away from his neck, where Kendall could clearly see the hickey she had given him the other night. She flushed slightly at the memory. "First of all, your stance is all wrong." Kíli went on not noticing her discomfort. He stood behind her and grabbed her hips, using his feet to kick hers into place. Once she had the footing down he moved his hands to her arms, his chest now pressed against her back so he could guide her through the first shot, both of their faces turning the color of a tomato.

"Alright, make sure you have a gentle but firm grip on the bow. Inhale and bring the arrow back. Make sure you're able kiss the arrow," Kíli began but stalled when Kendall attempted to kiss the arrow and ended up kissing Kíli's hand. In shock Kíli let go of the string causing the arrow to fly off toward the target striking in the outer ring.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry. That was so embarrassing." Kendall said leaping away. She thought her face would be permanently red by the end of the day. "I'm so awkward, sorry. Holy shit sorry." Kíli shook his head trying to clear his impure thoughts, of their bodies being so close.

"No, no it's alright." Kíli stuttered out, "You did what I said, it's fine. Why don't we try again?" Kendall nodded and got into her stance. Kíli came up behind her and helped her notch an arrow and pull the string back once more. Swallowing loudly Kendall kissed the arrow, this time waiting for Kíli to remove his hand before exhaling on release. The arrow sailed through the air and sunk into the target. Kendall sighed in relief and looked over to see Kíli smile at her making her heart beat a little faster. Quickly she diverted her gaze to Bryn and Fíli.

Bryn had taken those instructions to heart. She noticed that Fíli favored his right side and always kept his left foot forward. His eyes barely strayed from her face knowing, as Kendall put it, she had a shitty poker face. Cautiously she stalked forward, she could feel Dwalin and Fíli watching her. She stared at Fíli's right foot, hoping to fake him out. She lunged and he stepped back with his left foot and caught her hands. She attempted to repeat his earlier action by hooking her foot around his leg and giving a jerk, he barely moved. This aggravated her to no end she stomped her feet on the ground and he gave an amused chuckle and let go of her arms. He, instantly, sobered up when she jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and put one dagger in front of his neck and the other behind.

"Who's helpless now, huh?" Bryn said glaring at the blonde dwarf who was still stunned.

"I am." He whispered, softly, his breath soothing on her face. She blinked away her harsh look and stared at him. His blue eyes shone brightly and bore into her green ones. His eyes flickered down as she softly licked her lips. Dwalin cleared his throat breaking the trance that had fallen upon the two. Bryn,awkwardly, pulled her daggers away from Fíli's neck. He grabbed her waist and lowered her back to the ground.

"Let's move on." Dwalin said, not really knowing what to think of the interaction. The group settled down from there and continued to train. Kíli taught Kendall about long range shooting and then a few lessons with a sword for close combat while Fíli showed Bryn proper footwork and defensive strategies. Dwalin walked back and forth between the two groups preventing either one from horsing around. Around noon Dwalin stopped them all. The girls were about ready to drop.

"Alright, you're free to go." With relieved grins the girls began to walk away. "Not you lass." Dwalin continued. "Didn't you say you run after and not before?" With an audibly pathetic groan Kendall dropped her bow and short sword she had borrowed and stalked moodily toward the outer ring of the arena.

Bryn and Kendall made their way back to their room after training. Bryn had opted to stay behind and wait for her lazy friend. The two were sore, sweaty, and smelly as they drug themselves through the door. Kendall asked an elf to help get a bath started, and the elf maid assisted them. Kendall went first as usual coming back into the room not ten minutes later and collapsed onto the bed clad in only a towel. Bryn then picked herself up and bathed. But once she was finished she found she was too restless to sleep. Bryn began to feel extremely overwhelmed by the constant presence of people. In fact, she was about to pull her hair out so she snuck out of her and Kendall's room as her friend napped, silently. She had decided that she would skip out on lunch for an opportunity for solitude and peace. So she found a secluded garden that would probably be too out of the way for the rest of the company to attempt to find her.

She took with her, a sketchpad with a quill and some ink that Ori had given her when she had mentioned that she liked to draw. She figured that drawing would take her mind of everything that was going on around her and everything that she couldn't control. But truth be told, Bryn was going through a major technological withdraw and it was slowly eating at her. Even if she was in Middle Earth, (one of the coolest places to be thought of or otherwise) she still missed her phone and all the other things that came with living in the 21st century. She wondered if she would ever see her world again and it was when she was drawing that she felt the closest to it again.

Bryn walked around the small, secluded garden for a while as she searched for the perfect spot for her to sketch. When she found a carved stone bench, she sat upon it and finally looked around at the garden in complete awe of how beautiful and tranquil it was all while being perfectly simple. The elves really knew how to garden that was one thing that was for certain. Gardens back where she came from paled in comparison to this. Sure, they were beautiful in their own right. But they were created by and cared for by men. These gardens had been created by elves, who were more in tune with nature and understood how to care for it. She was no tree hugger but she did appreciate taking care of the world around her and making sure that it would be around for years to come.

Soon she began to draw the statue at the center of the garden. It was an elf-maiden carrying a fawn while it's mother stood beside her. So Bryn decided to envision it as if she was walking through the woods with the deer. It felt foreign to draw an elf, sure they were similar to humans anatomically but their flawless beauty was something that would be hard for her to capture. But that wasn't ever the hardest part. No, the ears were by far the most difficult for her draw even remotely correctly and she had almost given up when she heard a chuckle from over her shoulder. Which caused the petite girl to jump nearly her height in the air. Her hands clutched the pad of paper to her body, wrinkling it in her grip as she whirled around to face the source of the noise.

To her surprise, it wasn't Kendall who had decided to sneak up on her and that her friends had ever been known to be stealthy. No, the person that had snuck up on her was none other than Fíli. Bryn's face flushed when she realized that he was standing right behind her.

"H-how long have you been watching me?" She inquired, nervously as her heart rate began to return to normal.

The blonde dwarf shrugged, as he peered down at her, "Not long. Just long enough to watch you get frustrated with the ears."

Bryn's blush grew even brighter as she looked down at her now wrinkled drawing, "Yeah, elf ears are weird for me to draw. They're so pointy and unnatural."

Her words caused the young dwarf to chuckle, "I take it that it's your first attempt at drawing an elf?"

Bryn nodded, shyly unsure of how to respond. Since she had been here she had sketched a lot of things for the first time. Not just elves. But she didn't really want to talk about her drawings. But it appeared that she wasn't going to get out of it when Fíli spoke again, "I didn't know you could sketch like that."

"Yeah, it sort of runs in my family." Bryn tried to play down her talent, embarrassed that he had even seen her uncompleted work let alone seen her struggle with drawing something as simple as an elf's ears.

Fíli offered the petite girl an encouraging smile before he informed her, "Well, if it makes you feel any better. There is no way, I would ever be able to draw like that."

Bryn rolled her eyes and shook her head at the dwarf, "I'm sure you could, if you practiced at it. It's just like any other skill."

"Sure, it can be learned. But I've never seen anyone draw like you." Fíli pointed out, causing Bryn's cheeks to flush, "Have you drawn anything else while you've been here?"

Bryn shook her head, but Fíli didn't believe her and grabbed the sketchpad from her. He could tell that she was shy about showing off her skill and he wanted to encourage her to take more pride in her work. The dwarf's actions, automatically, irked the small woman. If there was one thing that she hated, it was when someone would look through her things without asking. She felt like her privacy was being invaded and didn't waste time in pointing it out, "Um, excuse me. Didn't your mother ever teach you to at least ask before taking something that belongs to someone else?"

"She did. But she was never specific about how I should ask." Fíli snickered as he dangled the book out of her reach.

Frustrated, the petite blonde huffed as she jumped to try to reach it. If she had been normal sized, he wouldn't have had this advantage over her. She would've been the one holding it out of his reach. But since, she wasn't she'd have to work for it.

"How about nicely for starters?" Bryn suggested as her hand wrapped around one of his, but the other hand still held it out of her reach, "Ugh, come on! Seriously? I'll show you if you give it back."

Apparently, that's exactly what Fíli had wanted to hear because he dropped the book into her hands and plopped down on the stone bench, patting the spot beside him as an invitation for her to sit next to him. Bryn blushed, still unsure if she should show him, but for some reason she felt compelled to show him anyway. So slowly, she sat down next to the blonde dwarf and opened her sketchbook.

The two sat together in silence as Fíli flipped through her sketches. It wouldn't take him long to look through all of them because she had had very limited time to even spend drawing, so she didn't have many pictures to show him. But that didn't stop him from studying every detail of her work. They were mostly of Rivendell, plants, buildings, and Kendall. But there were a few of the dwarves in groups as they hang out around the city. But the one that touched him the most was the one of him sparing with Kíli after the girls had been done for the day. It showed how well the brothers worked together but how different their styles were. And the fact, that she got almost every single detail of their faces and outfits.

"You drew Kíli and I?" He breathed as he traced his finger over one of his swords. The petite girl, merely, nodded as a proud smile grew upon her lips, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself."

Fíli waved her off, "No, it's fine. It's amazing."

"Really?" Bryn breathed as her heart pounded, madly in her chest. There was no denying that she was drawn to him, but she didn't feel like it was right to pursue him because she would have to leave eventually. She didn't want to lead him on if that was the case. He didn't deserve that.

"Of course," He smiled over at her but Bryn could practically see the gears turning in his mind before he even asked her, "Could you draw me?"

A wicked grin grew on the petite girls face as she pulled her sketchbook out of his hands and took off, running out of the garden, she called, "Only if you can catch me first."

Meanwhile Kendall was attempting to bond with a very dismissive Dwalin. When she woke up from her nap, she found herself alone and it unnerved her slightly so she got dressed and went in search of some company.

Quickly, she found him on the terrace finishing dinner. She comfortably sat down next to him with a wide grin and began her almost daily onslaught of chatter. But unfortunately for her, she was getting nowhere with the large dwarf. After a few questions, Dwalin knew she would be a constant pain in his side. Ignoring his obvious dislike, she began to tell of how she and Bryn met in the first grade of elementary school. She had to be cautious and not mention anything futuristic to the dwarves. A task that was strenuous on both the girls.

After the third tale from her childhood, Dwalin stood up intent on escaping the girl. Kendall followed him, eagerly, continuing to prattle on about her first piano lesson when she was eight. Curiously, Kendall followed the silent dwarf not knowing where he was headed. They reached a set of doors not unlike the area where she and Bryn were staying. Dwalin opened one of the doors, presumably the one he was occupying. Entering it, he turned to look at her, and then he promptly shut the door in her face.

"Well, that was rude." She scoffed, rubbing her nose, gently, trying to ease away the soreness brought on by the heavy wooden door. Moodily, she backtracked through the Elven halls, faintly curious as to what her friend was doing and where she had gone. Intent on finding her, Kendall headed out of the building. She walked, briskly around the city as she searched for her friend after a moment she gave up but continued to meander about. But she stopped at a bridge leading to one of the many gardens. This bridge wasn't like the one leading into the city, this one had low walls that were carved with intricate swirls and patterns, and there was a far smaller distance between the bridge and the water below. Lanterns hung on posts lining the passage not yet lit, as the sun had just begun to sink.

With growing curiosity, Kendall climbed up onto the wall, clinging to the lantern post as she leaned out to peer into water. She smiled at the reflection of the sunset in the rippling water. She looked up smiling at her surroundings. How often had she dreamed of getting away from home? She thought college was great, but this was indescribable. It was better than any book she had read, and every movie she had seen. She had been kept up in her tiny apartment for too long, dreaming of adventure and now she had found it. And it was amazing.

She had stopped paying attention to her surrounding, enveloped in the magic of this new world, so she did hear the footsteps approaching. A voice sounded from somewhere to her left. "Don't fall." The voice cause her to jump as well as let out a blood-curdling scream making her lose her footing when she turned to look at the culprit. She teetered precariously on the wall until two strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her off the wall and safely to bridge's floor. Kendall looked up embarrassed to see Kíli staring down at her fighting his grin.

"I thought I said, 'don't fall'?" Kíli chuckled, as he kept his hands on her waist until she found her footing and stepped away with a red face.

"Well, I've always been sort of a rebel." She said with a nervous laugh. She pulled her hair back to the nape of her neck and began to tie it off. But she looked up at the dwarf, curiously when he was grabbed her wrist. But it was his turn to blush, her stare causing him to suddenly feel nervous as he spoke, "Don't, it looks better down."

Leaning forward against the wall, Kendall's blue eyes scanned around them as she looked for the handsome dwarf's brother. When she didn't see him, she looked back at Kíli out of the corner of her eye, "So where's your other half?"

"I could ask you the same thing." The brunette dwarf shot back at her as his elbow propped him up against the wall. He watched as the sunlight lit up her face and caused her, normally, brown hair to glow red.

"If only I knew." Kendall shrugged which caused her soreness to come forward. She winced as she tried to rub the soreness out of her back. Kíli stepped behind her, moving her hands out of the way and began to massage her back. Kendall melted into the touch, without thinking. She leaned forward and rested her head on her forearms as Kíli kneaded out the knots of her back. It wasn't until his hands reached her lower back did she realize what their position must look like. Quickly, she stood around which almost caused her to head but him. Rubbing the back of her neck, Kendall blushed, "Uh, well, that's awkward."

"What?" Kíli inquired, truly unsure of her movements.

"Well, just think about the position we were in, and about the positions we have been in. I mean you were standing behind me as I was bent over against a wall. And then there was the drinking incident when I gave you that hickey, then when you were teaching how to shoot an arrow." She began to ramble on, desperately trying not to look at the dwarf. It wasn't that she liked him; she just got awkward when attractive men were around. "I feel like every time we're together I do something really awkward and embarrassing and this is not right. I don't even plan on doing these things, it's like it's instinctual. I mean, really, it's not like we're dating, do people even date in Middle Earth? Whatever I'm just digging myself a deeper hole-"

Kíli cut her off by lifting her chin and kissing her cheek. It was warm, gentle, and stunned Kendall into silence. Leaning closer, he whispered into her ear, "I don't mind." As his words sent a shiver down her spine, he moved in as if going in for a real kiss. But Kendall shoved her hand in his face.

"Whoa there Casanova. We can't do that. We can't do any of this. I mean we can be friends but not anything more. I mean you're like really hot and I drool a lot thinking about you. Wow, that part was not supposed to come out of my mouth. But anyway, " She prattled on, shaking her head before looking right at him, "Bryn and I are going to go home eventually, once we figure out how to get back."

Kíli looked at her, sadly, then with confusion as he questioned her, "Figure out how? I thought you came by sea?"

"Uh, we did. But we have to find a boat and money and stuff to get back home. Cause we don't have that. Yeah." She finished, awkwardly.

"Well until you do, what is stopping us? We find each other attractive, we're friends…" He trailed off, hoping that was enough to convince her. But Kendall wasn't even close to being persuaded, "Well, a, we just met. B, we're different species. And C, well, I can't come up with a 'c' right now, but we can't" She paused for a moment as she remembered something Nori told her that sparked her interest, "You said you find me attractive?"

"Yes?" He confirmed, curious about where she was heading with this.

"Yet, I was informed that you did not like thin, beardless women." The tone of her voice instantly scared him as she asked, "Are you calling me fat and hairy?"

"No, you're just my exception."

His words caused her scowl to drop from her lips and it was quickly replaced by a shy grin. The now present moonlight reflecting in her eyes took his breath away. If he thought her beautiful at sunset, it was nothing compared to how she looked basked in the light of the moon.

"You shouldn't get attached to me." She insisted causing Kíli to frown, "Why not?"

"I already told you I'm leaving eventually." She reminded him, seriously, but smiled once again, "Besides, no one can resist this fine specimen." She gestured to her whole body, and the dwarf couldn't help but agree with her. Her sly smile turned up to look at the moon. He saw her shoulder's slump as she turned in circles at the growing blackness.

"_Oh this is the night, it's a beautiful night_

_And we call it bella notte_

_Look at the skies, they have stars in their eyes_

_On this lovely bella notte._

_Side by side with your loved one,_

_You'll find enchantment here._

_The night will weave its magic spell,_

_When the one you love is near!_

_Oh, this is the night, and the heavens are right!_

_On this lovely bella notte." _She sang, softly.

When he saw her smile pull into a frown, he felt compelled to know what was wrong, "What is it?"

"I don't know these constellations." At his raised eyebrow, she elaborated, "One of my favorite things is to look at the stars, but these aren't familiar to me. For some reason, I thought they'd be the same."

The dwarf was this as an opportunity to spend more time with the girl and he was quick to offer, "Well, I could teach you."

Kendall grinned up at him, brightly. She hadn't been expecting him to offer to teach her, let alone know anything about the stars, but it didn't impress her nonetheless, "Really?"

"Yes." He came as close to her as she would let him and he began to point out different stars telling her of old dwarf legends of treasures of old and how one of the great kings of old wished to share his wealth with the world so he threw his gems high in the sky for the whole world to see.

Later that evening, Kendall returned the room she had been sharing with Bryn to find her friend sprawled out on the bed with a wistful smile on her lips. The brunette raised her eyebrow at the blonde before she slammed the door and said to her,

"You'll never guess what just happened to me."

Bryn jolted up into a sitting position at the sound of the door being thrown shut and mirrored her friend's statement, "Oh, but you'll never guess what just happened to me." She paused when she saw a strange look on Kendall's face, "Dude, what's up with your face?"

"Dude, what's up with _your_ face?" Kendall scrutinized her friend's lackadaisical expression.

Bryn got a far off look on her face as she recounted what had happened to her that afternoon, "Well, you know how I wasn't there when you woke up. I, um, went to a garden to draw and" The blonde began to run her hands through her curly hair as she continued, "I-I just- He's just so perfect." She, then, collapsed back onto the bed with a dreamy sigh.

Kendall's confused look only became even more prominent as her friend spoke and she held a hand up to halt her, "Hold on. What?"

"He's so perfect." The blonde continued to fawn obviously not paying much attention to her friend, "It was so romantic."

"God damn! Who are talking about?!" Kendall demanded as she waved her hands in front of her signaling for Bryn to elaborate.

"Fíli." Bryn sighed, still somewhere off in la la land.

Kendall snorted a chuckle, "Then you'll never believe what happened to me."

Her words suddenly sparked an interest in the blonde, who jolted up into a sitting position and inquired, excitedly, "WHAT?!"

"Well, it started after Dwalin shut the door in my face." The brunette stroked her chin and began to recount her conversation with Kíli. Bryn seemed to hang onto her every word and once Kendall was finished, she spoke up, "This is so great! We can actually be sisters-in-law."

"Calm your tits. We just met these people." Kendall shook her head at her friend, "We can't have relationships with them."

"W-why not?" Bryn pouted, not pleased with her friends negative attitude.

"Because we gotta go back. We can't stay here." Kendall reminded her friend as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why?" Bryn whined as a look of disenchantment contorted her previously cheery face.

"Because we don't belong here, numb nuts." Kendall rolled her eyes at her petulant friend, "It's just not meant to be."

Bryn pursed her lips and glared at her friend, "You don't know that."

"Uh, yeah I do, because I can't live without two ply toilet paper and you can't live without your iPhone." Kendall shook her head as she gestured to herself and then to her friend.

Trying to remain positive, Bryn refused to cave into her friend, "But I have a chance at love here."

"You are ridiculous." Kendall rolled her eyes at her friend, who was clearly not seeing any reason as she made her way over to the bed and said, "Move over. I wanna go to bed."


	7. Chapter 7: Great Balls of Fire

Chapter 7: Great Balls of Fire

We do not own The Hobbit or any of J.R.R. Tolkien's works. Or Any of the songs mentioned in this story. The only things we own are Bryndle and Kendall.

Cowritten with Concrete Bubbles.

Major thanks from both Concrete Bubbles and I for all the reviews!

Sorry, for not updating in forever, Concrete Bubbles and I have both been extremely busy with summer jobs. And I, personally, had no time to write or update until recently. We hope to get this story back on track so that it will be up-to-date by the time BOFTA comes out!

But without any further adieu, enjoy Chapter 7!

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><p>An incessant pounding woke the girls from their peaceful slumber one morning in their third week at Rivendell. Moaning, Kendall reached over and smacked Bryn on the arm, grunting something that the blonde could only assume was 'door'. Groaning, Bryn got out of bed and tried to flatten her unruly blonde hair. Smacking her lips together partly because of her dry mouth, but also because it annoyed her friend. Bryn let out a grin as she heard Kendall let out a quiet 'Fuck off'. Finally, Bryn opened the door stopping the loud knocks. There stood Bofur hat askew with his pack on. His eyes widened at her appearance. She was in the nightgown given to her by the elves and, despite her best efforts her hair was standing at all ends like the Bride of Frankenstein.<p>

"What are you two still doin' in bed?" Bofur asked, rushing into the room and started gathering their things and throwing them onto the bed, where Kendall still lay.

"Sleeping what does it look like dip shit?" Kendall muttered into her pillow.

"Why are you here so early?" Bryn asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, "And why do you have all your stuff?"

"We're leavin' today." Bofur stated, looking for bags to put their stuff in.

"Oh well, have a safe trip." Kendall yawned, pulling the blankets over her head.

Apparently, it took a moment to sink into her sleep addled brain, for the next second she sprung out of bed and dove under the bed retrieving the two backpacks given to them by the elves. "Bryn put some damn clothes on or we'll miss the dragon." Bryn stared at her frantic friend as she ran around the room grabbing a pair of pants and pulling them onto her legs almost falling in the process. Bryn followed her friend's lead at a much safer pace. The two grabbed their clothes given to them by the elves and packed their bags. Pulling on their boots and cloaks, they followed a frantic Bofur out the door and into the winding halls of Rivendell.

"Why didn't anyone tell us that you were leaving today?" Bryn asked as the three ran along the path.

"We thought you knew, and when you didn't show up this morning some of us started to get worried." Bofur responded almost barreling into an elf.

"I told you Thorin was trying to get rid of us." Kendall said.

"You said he was trying to get us eaten by trolls, that's different." Bryn pointed out. The trio skidded to a halt in the main entrance. They could faintly see the outline, of what they assumed was Bombur disappearing into the rock face leaving Rivendell.

"Thorin would leave you?" Bryn asked looking up at the dwarf.

"Aye, he would."

"Well, someone's an obsessive jerk." Kendall pointed out.

"Well, are we going to sit here all day or are we going to catch up?" She asked, pulling her unbrushed bedhead into a plait. The other two nodded and took off in the company's direction. They passed several elves as they left all with relieved looks on their normally stoic faces. The three hurried along after the others. But it wasn't until they were in the foothills of the mountains that they actually reached the group.

"Jesus, were you people running half the way." Kendall asked as the three slowed to a walk once they reached Bombur. The obtuse dwarf just smiled at her tired expression. Bilbo dropped back to walk next to the girls.

"I'm glad you made it." He smiled, sounding relieved.

"Why so you don't have to bear the entirety of Thorin's bad mood?" Kendall asked the hobbit with a scowl.

"Kenny, don't be a such a bitch to him." Bryn glared at her friend.

"I'm sorry I didn't get my solid eight hours." Kendall apologized to Bilbo.

"It's quite alright, and I apologize for that being the reason for my relief." Bilbo said referring to Thorin's mood.

"Ha, I wa-" Kendall began. "Shut up." Bryn cut her off mid word. The group set up camp at the base of the mountain thinking it best to get an early start to the climb tomorrow. Thorin glared venomously at Bofur as the hatted dwarf entered the encampment. Bryn and Kendall made a silent agreement not to get near the angry dwarf for a while. Nori walked up to the two of them and flung his arm around Kendall pulling her down into a headlock.

"Nice of you to show up." He informed her as he gave her a nuggie.

"Nice to be here." Kendall said from her awkward position. Thankfully, she was freed when Ori called him over. Slowly the fire was built and dinner was passed around. But that was the end of their merriment when Thorin ordered them to be useful and go do their womanly duties and wash the dishes.

"Sexist prick." Kendall muttered as she and Bryn walked to a nearby creek and began cleaning the bowls and utensils.

"Oh get over it, if you want to see your stupid dragon you'll do what he says." Bryn said.

"Whatever. Let's see what could make this not so boring?" Kendall pondered, "What I love most about river's is, you can't step in the same river twice." Bryn grinned and joined in the song.

"_The water's always changing, always flowing_

_But people, I guess, can't live like that_

_We all must pay a price_

_To be safe, we lose our chance of ever knowing_

_What's around the riverbend_

_Waiting just around the riverbend_

_I look once more_

_Just around the riverbend_

_Beyond the shore_

_Where the gulls fly free_

_Don't know what for_

_What I dream the day might send_

_Just around the riverbend"_

The girls, quickly, forgot about the dishes as they belted the lyrics into pieces of cutlery, using them as makeshift microphones. Hearing footsteps the girls sobered up and finished the dishes quickly as Dori came into view.

"You two best come back to camp now. Don't want you on your own for too long." The matronly dwarf helped them gather the dishes and walked them back to camp Kendall and Bryn where making faces to his unsuspecting back. After handing back the dishes Bryn made her way over to Fíli and Kíli, but Kendall had her sight set on a different dwarf.

"Whatcha doin'?" Kendall asked peering over Dwalin's massive shoulder. It was obvious as to what he was doing as he raked the wetstone down the length of his axe blade. But Kendall didn't care; she was determined to get the abnormally large dwarf's affection. He gave her a grunt and kept working on his axe. She just shrugged and sat down next to him. "When I was little my sister's boyfriend taught me how to sharpen a knife, he got arrested though cause he got in a fight. But my sister stayed with him. I thought she was an idiot; she just called me a child. My other sister was a lot older than us we had to go live with her when mom got in trouble. I wonder what they're all doing right now. Do you have any family Dwalin? Other than Balin I mean." When he didn't answer she continued to ramble. "Mom tried her best, she signed me up for music lessons, I can play the violin and the piano. Mom and I always shared a love of music. I took some fencing lessons when I was little as well; they had free lessons in the summer. I wanted Bryn to go with me but she went to art camp."

"Don't you have someone else to trouble?" He interrupted impatiently. It was the first time he acknowledged her during one of her attempts at a conversation.

"No, not really." She shook her head. The other dwarves, who were listening, laughed at his groan of annoyance.

"Why do you insist on following me everywhere?" Dwalin asked, finally, turning to look at her.

"Because, I find you fascinating." Kendall said, with a shrug.

"Couldn't you find someone else fascinating?" He asked, his temper was running short.

"No, besides I tried to talk to Glóin he just told Bryn and I to stop trying to pet his beard." Kendall replied. The dwarf in question crossed his arms over his beard protectively.

"Then try someone else." Dwalin suggested, shortly, turning back to his axes.

"Why don't you like me?" Kendall asked. The large dwarf looked over at her. Her eyes were wide and innocent with a hint of hurt lingering in them. He sat there slightly stunned, not knowing what to say.

"Why do you want me to like you?" He asked unsure.

"Because," She trailed off, turning a light shade of pink. He narrowed his eye at her as if challenging her to continue. Eventually she caved under the pressure of his stare. She lowered her voice so it was just a whisper. "Because, when I imagine what a dad is like, he'd be like you." Kendall reddened a little more at this admission before continuing, "My dad left my mom a little after I was born, I'd like to think that he could have been like you if he had stayed." She blinked looking up from her fidgeting hands to him, reminding him of a small child, helpless and lost. And suddenly he was no longer annoyed at her constant questioning and following him around. No longer had her stories seemed irrelevant, she had been seeking his approval this whole time. She had been looking for a father figure.

"Excuse me." She said standing up and leaving the fireside. She, awkwardly, walked to the opposite side of camp and sat next to Bryn, Fíli and Kíli. Bryn, barely, broke her stride as she spoke theatrically to Fíli; he was completely enraptured by every word that came out of her mouth causing Kendall to scoff. Kíli bumped his shoulder into her's. And she offered him a small smile.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'll live, I just had an awkward moment over there." Kendall insisted.

"Well, if you wish to talk about it, I'm probably your best option." Kíli said with a smile. Hesitantly, he placed a hand over hers. But Kendall, barely, noticed she just looked over at Bryn and Fíli deep in conversation.

"Yeah, Romeo and Juliette over there won't be of any help." He looked confusedly at her. She waved her hand in dismissal.

"Long story." She began to spread out her bedroll, and Kíli followed suit. Eventually, the two were lulled to sleep by Bryn and Fíli's whispered conversation.

Bryn was one of the first to wake up the next morning, if it could be called that. The sky was dark and cloudy and looked like it would rain. But that wouldn't stop Thorin, who was waking the rest of the company. Bryn looked over to see Fíli's face inches from hers, and she smiled, fondly remembering their conversation from the previous night. They had fallen asleep talking and had slept through the night facing one another. Bryn, gently, nudged him awake and he blinked at her, sleepily.

"Good morning." He greeted her with a smile as he also realized how they had slept.

"Morning," she grinned back at him. The two sat up and turned to look at the couple next to them. Kendall lay on her back with one arm above her head and the other was pinned to her side by Kíli. She lay facing away from him as his face nuzzled her neck and his arm wrapped around her. Bryn stood up and kicked at their legs attempting to wake them. Kendall woke first glaring at Bryn. But her glare soon turned to Kíli when she noticed where his arm was. He blinked stupidly at her.

"What did I tell you about this?" Kendall said, using her free arm to gesture to his arm.

"Don't." Kíli replied with an eye roll before pulling himself off the ground and hauling her to her feet.

"Everyone be ready to move in five minutes." Thorin barked as he sent an especially loathsome glare toward the four.

"I guess uncle noticed our sleeping arrangements." Fíli stated as he began to pack his things and the others were quick to follow suit.

"Whoa, he's your uncle? That's gotta suck." Kendall stated, looking between Thorin and the brothers, awkwardly.

"Wait, if he's your uncle, what does that make you?" Bryn asked, pausing her movements.

"Monkeys." Kendall suggested, laughing, but stopped at her friend's glare.

"Well, I'm his heir." Fíli informed the girls of his status.

"And I'm his." Kíli said, pointing to his brother. Fíli sent him a glare.

"Until, I have children." Fíli turned to look back at Bryn, who flushed under his gaze and the underlying meaning behind it. She blushed even darker, though more with anger, when Kendall made a crude gesture with her finger and ring behind Fíli's head.

"Come on." Thorin's voice boomed with obvious anger. The company did not hesitate to hurry to his side. And they began to ascend into the mountains.

The Misty Mountains astonished the girls. They had never seen peaks so tall before and the mountains' enormity was humbling. Sure, the girls had seen them portrayed in 'The Fellowship of the Ring'. But the movie, certainly, hadn't done the range justice. No mountain range in their world could really compare what was the back bone of Middle Earth so for Bryn and Kendall, it was a real treat to see such a wonder.

Around noon the company got a taste of why the mountains were called the 'Misty Mountains' as the skies opened up and let down a torrential downpour. With no where to stop on the slippery, narrow stone, Thorin kept everyone moving until they found a cave large enough to provide everyone with shelter. Hours seemed to have passed before they heard the first clap of thunder. The booming noise must have startled Bilbo because he almost slipped off the ledge. Luckily for the Halfling, Dwalin and Bofur were there to pull him back to safety. Thorin was yelling up ahead but over the wind and rain they could not hear what was said. Bryn latched, tightly to the back of Kendall's cloak as they moved onward and Kendall reached back to grab her friend's hand to let her know that she was there.

"Its just rain." Kendall teased the blonde. But she was about to eat her words.

"LOOK OUT!" Dwalin roared as a giant hunk of stone came hurtling toward the side of the mountain. Surprising her, Dwalin pulled Kendall and Bryn toward him using his body as a shield for falling rocks.

"This is no thunder storm, this is a thunder battle." Balin shouted from up ahead.

"Well, bless me, the legends are true. Giants, stone giants!" Bofur shouted, taking it upon himself to become 'Captain Obvious' for the day. The girls peeked out from under Dwalin's massive arms to see a humanoid rock as half as tall as the mountain itself chisel out a boulder the size of a semi from the mountain and throw it at another stone giant.

All of a sudden the ledge they were standing on began to tremble and sent everyone into a panic. Above all the other noise, Fíli started yelling at Kíli to jump. The girls looked up in amazed fear to see that they were currently standing on the 'kneecap' of another stone giant. The girls fastened onto each other as their giant stepped up to join the battle. At this point, there was nothing they could do but pray that this wasn't the end of the line for them.

"Oh shit." Kendall whispered as she saw another giant head butt their own, sending tremors down it's body and forcing it to fall into the mountain. It only took a moment for the giant to recover before it stood to its full height and began throwing punches with the other stone giant. Their giant gave the other an a swift uppercut knocking it back. But the stone giant they had seen first, came out from apparently nowhere and slugged their giant in the face. Their giant turned with an almighty lurch loosing it's head and falling into the mountainside. Closer and closer the knee of the giant fell toward the mountainside. Dwalin grabbed Kendall and pulled her to his other side, and then grabbed both girls by their cloaks he threw them onto the ledge where they landed in a heap soon followed by the rest of the dwarves.

They could hear Thorin shout for his nephew, Fíli sat up and waved him off, a look of relief shined through the King's drenched face.

"Where's Bilbo?" Bofur asked, frantically, "Where's the hobbit?" Everyone looked around frantically. "There!" Bilbo was dangling off the ledge. Ori and Bofur lunged for him but he was slipping out of reach. The girls stood to help, but they paused in shock as Thorin leapt over the edge and threw Bilbo back up onto the ledge. Everyone inhaled, sharply, when Thorin slipped, but Dwalin was there to catch him and pull him to relative safety.

"I thought we'd lost our burglar." Dwalin said, gruffly after he had risen back to his full height.

"He's been lost, ever since he left home. He should never have come. He has no place amongst us." Thorin spat before he turned away from the rest of the group to see the girls standing, awkwardly off to the side. His glared hardened even more as he marched up to them so he was close to their faces, "And we should have left you to die." His words were low enough so that only the girls could hear him. Surprised by his heartless declaration, the girls stared wide-eyed at him and jaws slack. He continued to glare at them for a moment more before he turned away toward a cave and yelled for Dwalin to help him scout it. The large dwarf gave them curious looks as he walked past them as he followed his king into the mountain. After both Thorin and Dwalin had moved to check out the cave, Kíli rushed over to them and grabbed Kendall's arm.

"Are you alright?" He asked, urgently.

"Yeah, I'm good, my ass is a little sore from landing on a rock, but I'll live." Kendall brushed him off, trying to forget about Thorin's words.

"I'm fine, too." Bryn mentioned, crossing her arms over her chest. Kíli rolled his eyes at the blonde as Fíli, quickly, joined them and latched onto Bryn turning her face side to side and looking her up and down for injuries. The dirty look she had sent Kíli melted off her face as she smiled at his brother. "I'm fine, Fíli, I promise." She told him, sincerely.

"She's fine. Can we get out of the rain now?" Kendall suggested, noticing the four of them were the only ones still outside the cave. With an eye roll, Fíli led the way into the cave. Thorin already made it clear there wouldn't be a fire that night so the company settled down to try and get some sleep.

Bryn and Kendall lay next to each other, away from the rest of the group, sound asleep. Or they were until the Company Burglar, gently, shook them awake. They blinked tiredly up at the hobbit.

"What are you doing?" Kendall asked, sleepily.

"I'm leaving. I do not belong here, as Thorin constantly points out. You weren't meant to be a part of this journey either. I am asking you to leave with me." Bilbo whispered, looking over his shoulder to make sure he didn't wake any of the others.

"We don't have anywhere else to go." Bryn pointed out as she attempted to flatten her wayward hair.

"We'll go back to Rivendell and stay with the elves." Bilbo pressed because he knew he wouldn't be able to make the journey back to the Elven city alone.

"We can't just leave them." Kendall motioned to the sleeping dwarves around them.

"Where are you going?" Bofur's voice whispered from the shadows.

"Nowhere." The girls assured him at the same time Bilbo said,"Rivendell." Bofur stood up and looked toward the girls who were still seated on the cave floor before he back to Bilbo.

"You can't leave," he pleaded. "You're part of the company, one of us."

"I'm not though, am I?" Bilbo rationalized in a defeated tone,"Thorin said, 'I never should have come', and he was right. I'm not a Took. I'm a Baggins. I don't know what I was thinking. I should have never run out my door."

"You're homesick, I understand." Bofur put in.

"No, you don't understand. You are dwarves. You're used to this life, to living on the road, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere." Bilbo spat out, though instantly regretted it.

"Wow, Dildo's a dick." Kendall whispered in Bryn's ear. Bryn had to stop her snort of laughter before anyone heard.

"Seriously?" She asked with a grin. They were too busy trying to contain their laughter they didn't pay attention to the rest of the conversation. Until Thorin yelled and jumped to his feet, only then did the girls notice a large fissure forming on the floor. They, quickly, stood and grabbed what they could, but no one could move quick enough before the floor fell away and they all plummeted down, deep into the mountain.

They all landed in a pile at the bottom of the trap. Bryn was the lucky one who landed on Bombur's vast middle, bouncing slightly on impact. They, barely, had time to gather themselves before they were bombarded by goblins. They were all being pushed and pulled around, being stripped of their weapons. They were yanked, roughly to their feet and shoved forward. Bryn and Kendall attempted to reach one another but they were ripped away from each other's grasps. Kendall was shoved ahead of Bryn and next to Kíli; Fíli grabbed Bryn from behind. The brothers linked hands with the girls and positioned themselves, protectively around them. As she was being shoved along, Kendall looked back in fear because she was no longer able to see her friend. The goblins pushed the group forward, Kíli pulled Kendall along as she, desperately, tried to see Bryn in the throng. The blonde wasn't fairing any better as she clung to Fíli's side, she knew that she would be safe as long as she didn't leave his side but she couldn't help but worry for Kendall, even if she was with Kíli. Bryn couldn't even attempt to try to catch sight of her friend because she was the smallest of the group. Being a little shorter than Bilbo, all she could see was goblin flesh and Fíli.

Singing could be heard up ahead, as well as the dull light of hundreds of small fires. The company was shoved into a large open cavern with wooden scaffolding built up to the ceiling. There were hordes of goblins crawling all over the place. There wasn't a direction that anyone could turn a not see one of the festering, boil-covered, cave dwellers. But it wasn't until they were pulled to a stop upon a rickety platform that the company got a good look at who they were meeting. An enormous fat goblin, who adorned a crown made out of bones and a drooping waddle that jiggled and swayed with every movement, was finishing his song.

Kendall looked over her shoulder not paying attention to what was going on, it appeared that Bryn wasn't either as she looked around at their gruesome scenery before their eyes met and relief blossomed in each girl when they saw that the other was fairing alright. Bryn, worriedly, looked back at her friend who was at the front of the group the only thing between her and the goblin king was Kíli. Kendall, however, looked relieved that Bryn was nestled between Fíli, whom the blonde was still clinging to, and Dwalin. Kendall was grateful that Dwalin was next to her petite friend because she knew that the large, and seasoned dwarf would be able to defend her. Both girls looked forward when the Goblin King shouted for the company to be searched. Fíli wrapped his arm around her to bring her in front of him as the goblins surrounded the group more closely, reaching out and grabbing anything and everything they could. Kendall and Kíli were being pulled in opposite directions, but Kíli held fast to her hand and pulled her away from the goblins. They stopped probing and pulling when a goblin dumped out Nori's bag revealing a large stash of things he stole from Rivendell. Everyone turned to stare at him.

"Just a couple of keep sakes." He informed the company as he tried to justify his actions.

"Keepsakes? You have got to be shitting me." Kendall rolled her eyes at theif.

"What are you doing in these parts?" The Goblin King asked leaning closer. Thorin went to step forward but Oin held him back and began to talk, but he was soon cut off by Bofur who was lying so blatantly Kendall almost had the urge to step forward herself in hopes of talking them all out of it. Goblin King silenced them.

"If they will not talk, we'll make them squawk." He turned to face his subjects and continued to shout. "Bring up the langler, bring up the bone breaker." He turned back to the dwarves and pointed his hideous staff at Kendall. "Start with the girl." She screamed as dwarf hands pulled her back into the throng and goblins grabbed her trying to pull her forward.

"Wait." Thorin shouted pushing himself forward past Kendall and Kíli.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is, Thorin, son of Thráin, son of Thrór, King under the mountain. Oh but I'm forgetting you don't have a mountain. And you're not a king, which makes you nobody, really. I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head," he laughed, "Nothing attached."

Bryn stopped paying attention then as she pulled herself forward and grabbed onto Kendall. The two stood huddled in the middle as the Goblin King and Thorin spoke of Azog the Defiler.

"I guess the pale orc would make a terrible secretary." Kendall muttered. Bryn looked at her friend in fear for her sanity and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"The defiler, de filer, he undoes files. Get it?" Kendall explained in a vain attempt at humor. Bryn looked at her as if she truly had gone crazy. But before she could comment the goblins started separating them pushing and pulling once more. The Goblin King began to sing another song about them being killed and hidden forever in the depths of Goblin Town. But he was interrupted when the Goblin Cleaver was dropped out of its sheath; he began shrieking in fear pointing at the group.

"Slash them, kill them. Kill them all." He shouted. The goblin's attacked; the girls were both tackled to the ground. Bryn was hit on the head and immediately knocked unconscious Kendall managed to kick a goblin away and tried to roll her friend away, but was pushed to the ground once more.

Sudden burst of bright light illuminated the cavern and stunned everyone within it momentarily. For a moment they all lay there, dwarf, goblin and girl, all staring at Gandalf as he stepped forward as the light dissipated. "Take up arms." He commanded, looking around at the group. Quickly, they all scrambled for weapons. Kendall managed to army crawl her way over to the cluster of discarded weapons before she sifted through the pile of metal to grab her bow and quiver as well as Bryn's daggers. As quickly as she could, Kendall made her way back to Bryn, who was still lying on the platform in an unconscious heap. Bofur stood above her fighting off a pair of Goblins. Kendall knew that she had to act if the three of them were going to get out of this alive. As she notched an arrow to the string of her bow, she tried to remember what Kíli and the elves had taught her before she whispered a small prayer and let it fly. She refrained from cheering when the arrow sunk between the goblin's eyes and buried itself in it's skull. Together, Bofur and Kendall hoisted Bryn up off the floor.

"I'll carry her if you watch our backs." Kendall told to the hatted dwarf. He nodded before they made a run for it following behind the Gandalf and the others. Everything was flying by and there was no time to hesitate, everyone was acting on instincts. Dwarves were fighting, Goblins were dying, and Kendall, who already hated running was jogging, awkwardly and slowly with Bryn's extra weight.

"Ugh, should have made a man carry you." Kendall groaned, not expecting an answer as she attempted to adjust her friend so that she could carry her easier.

"What's going on?" Bryn mumbled, stirring from her place on Kendall's back. Her head was pounding and she felt like she had been hit by a Mack truck as she lifted a hand to touch the blood slicked side of her head. In relief, Kendall smiled and dropped Bryn, unceremoniously, to her feet.

"You got knocked out we're being chased." Kendall informed the blonde as she grabbed her arm and pulling her forward, "Keep up, I don't want to be eaten."

Bryn stumbled, blindly, for a moment before looking back behind them to see the mob of goblins. In that moment, she forgot all about her pounding head and surged forward, now pulling Kendall along behind her. Thinking fast, Kendall took Bryn's daggers that she had shoved into the waistband of her pants and shoved them into her friend's hand. The two, then, used all the effort and evasive tactics they knew to elude the goblin's grasp. As they followed the dwarves and Gandalf, Kendall paused to pick up goblin arrows to reload her quiver.

"Are you stupid?" Bryn asked as she stabbed a goblin in the eye Walking Dead style.

"No, I'm getting extra ammo." Kendall replied, thrusting an arrow into another goblin's throat, who, lucky for her, had a full quiver on his back. She ripped the quiver off the goblin and continued to run behind Bryn. The group did not get far as the Goblin King pulled himself through the bridge, blocking the company's path.

"You thought you could escape me?" He asked taking a swing at Gandalf,"What are you going to do now wizard?"

Gandalf didn't bother to say anything before he lunged forward, poked the fat goblin in the eye, and then sliced him across the belly, bringing the grotesque being to its knees. "That'll do it." Then with a final blow Gandalf sliced it's throat. The weight of the king caused the bridge they were on to break sending the group down into the cavern below. Bryn and Kendall grabbed onto one another screaming in terror. The bridge and the company landed, roughly on the cave floor. Gandalf, quickly, got to his feet and Kendall rolled Bryn off of her and onto the ground next to the wizard.

"Well, that could have been worse." Bofur said, not a second later the fat king landed on the group.

"You've got to be joking." Dwalin grunted from the bottom of the pile.

"God dammit Bofur, did you have to jinx us?" Kendall shouted, thoroughly disgusted, considering she was stuck under the fat king. Bryn laughed as she pulled her friend and her two quivers from underneath the disturbingly obese goblin.

"GANDALF!" Kíli shouted looking up. The company followed his line of sight to see hundreds of goblins running down the cavern walls. The dwarves were spurred into action as they worked, quickly to pulled themselves free of the rubble and weight of the Goblin King.

"It's too many we cannot fight them." Dwalin informed to Gandalf.

"Only one thing will save us, daylight." Gandalf assured the company as he began to usher them towards the way out.

"Praying for daylight." Kendall began.

"Now is not the time." Bryn interrupted as she grabbed her friend's wrist and ran with the others. The group followed Gandalf at top speed, winding through the cave to see daylight at the end of the tunnel. They broke through the edge of the mountain and continued running down the side of a hill. Until they were finally able to stop. Kendall forced Bryn into a sitting position on one of the boulders that littered the side of the mountain and ripped part of her shirt off.

"Wow, I didn't think it'd be that easy." She muttered to herself before she held it out to Bryn. "Spit on it." She ordered. Bryn gave her an odd look.

"Why?"

"Because, I need a wet rag and if you'd prefer I spit on this to clean your wound be my guest." Kendall made to move the cloth away but Bryn leaned forward and spit on it. Kendall would have smiled in victory had it not been really gross. Pulling her friend's hair aside, she used the spit dampened cloth to wipe off the crusty, dried blood from around the cut. The blonde's sun kissed skin was already turning a dark reddish, purple from where her face had collided with the floor. The girls jumped when Gandalf began to yell. "Where is our hobbit?!"

"Curse the Halfling, now he's lost."

"I thought he was with Dori."

"Don't blame me." Dori said, defensively.

"Well where did you last see him?" Gandalf asked.

"I think I saw him slip away when they first collard us." Nori informed the others, as he stepped up to defend his brother.

"What happened exactly? Tell me!" Gandalf demanded, his concern for the hobbit evident in his frantic tone. The girls looked around, nervously, hoping to see their hairy footed, little companion.

"I'll tell you what happened. Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it." Thorin informed the wizard, dramatically.

"Oh Jeeze, here we go with King Crabby again." Kendall whispered, sarcastically, to Bryn.

"Shh." Her friend whispered back, trying to hide her laugh as she watched the exchange.

"We will not be seeing our hobbit again, he is long gone." Thorin continued oblivious to the two girls' snickering.

"No, he isn't." Bilbo appeared out of nowhere. The girls shared a look. They both had a feeling that he hadn't gotten back completely on his own.

"Bilbo Baggins, I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life." Gandalf said with relief in his voice as he stepped forward and towards the hobbit.

"Bilbo, we'd given you up." Kíli voice threw in causing the girls to whip around not knowing he and Fíli were that close.

"How on earth did you get passed the goblins?" The older brother asked.

"How indeed." Bilbo said with a laugh slipping his hands into his pocket. Bryn and Kendall looked to each other wide eyed.

"You don't think he has…" Kendall whispered, trailing off to look back at the hobbit.

"The ring? Yeah, I do." Bryn finished in a whisper as well.

"Shit just got real." Kendall whispered. Thorin the ever-trusting dwarf began to interrogate him. But Bilbo had a speech for him.

"Man if they were both gay, I bet they'd end up together." Kendall smirked, wagging her eyebrow suggestively at her friend.

"Oh my God shut up Kenny." Bryn snorted and rolled her eyes at her friend.

Suddenly, and without warning a low howl sounded through the trees, quickly followed by several more. Everyone jumped to their feet and turned to look back toward the mountain side.

"Out of the frying pan." Thorin started, staring off in the trees.

"And into the fire." Gandalf finished the phrase. "Run. RUN!" he roared. Bryn and Kendall were the first to take off ducking around trees and leaping over roots. They soon came to a skidding halt along with the dwarves when they saw they had run toward a cliff.

"Up into the trees all of you." Gandalf demanded. Looking over, Kendall noticed a dilemma Bryn couldn't reach the branches.

"Bryn! Fifth grade cheer flyer!" Kendall yelled, crouching with her hands linked together. With a nod, Bryn ran toward the brunette, stepping into their cupped hands. Kendall stood straight and threw her friend into the tree. But she didn't have any time to recover before Dwalin came up next to her and threw her into the tree next to the blonde.

"God, that hurt." Kendall said, having caught herself on a branch by landing on her stomach. "You're telling me." Bryn growled, rubbing her already concussed head. Dwalin pulled himself up next to them.

"What are you waiting for? Climb higher." He yelled. The girls looked down to see about a dozen wargs swarming the bases of the trees. Without a second thought the girls scrambled to get higher up the trunk.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. What are we going to do?" Bryn panicked, grabbing Kendall's arm like a vice.

"We are so dead. I know I've said it before but we are totally going to die this time." Kendall whined, fearfully.

"Both of you need to shut up." Dwalin growled at them silencing their babbling for a short while. Until the wargs started to pull down the tree they were perched in, and the girls let out blood curdling screams as they looked down at the snapping jaws of the beasts that surrounded the trees. With an almighty shove, Dwalin forced them into the next tree where they landed on an unsuspecting Bilbo. The three outcasts didn't have any time to get their bearings before they were forced into the next tree and then the next. The wargs were causing a domino effect on the cluster of pines.

With all the collapsing trees, the group was practically running up the trunks and diving through the branches. Until they were all clinging to limbs in the last pine on the very edge of the precipice. Bryn and Kendall took residence on the branch below Fíli and above Kíli. When the girls looked to their right, they saw a very livid Thorin glaring back at them.

"Well, this is awkward." Bryn mumbled over her shoulder.

"I'd rather get the third degree from prince pouty than be eaten by wargs or dropped off a cliff." Kendall stated, snarkily.

"Lucky for us we get all three." Bryn said, sarcastically.

"FÍLI!"

They looked up at Gandalf as he shouted down to the blond dwarf. Gandalf threw a flaming pinecone down at Fíli before throwing one toward the cluster of Orcs and wargs causing them to scatter. Soon Gandalf was throwing pinecones down upon the orc pack with the assistance of the dwarves. Fire began to spread among the rocks and undergrowth causing a semi-protective barrier between the company and the orcs. They had even managed to catch a few wargs on fire while they were hurtling flaming pinecones down towards their enemy. But just beyond their reach, the pale orc lingered, waiting for his chance to end the line of Durin.

"It's literally raining fire." Kendall wheezed as she inhaled some of the dense, gray smoke from the flames, "And we're going to see a dragon. _Reign of Fire._ Get it? You know the Christian Bale movie."

"You're an idiot. It's raining inflamed pinecones." Bryn corrected, smirking at her friend. But the grin dropped instantly as the tree began to shake. Bryn latched onto the trunk as the tree lurched falling back over the cliff. Kendall, however, wasn't lucky enough to have as quick of reflexes and began to fall, letting out an ungodly scream. But the scream was cut short as a hand reached out and pulled her into a branch knocking the air out of her when the pine stopped parallel to the earth several hundred feet below. Scrambling up so she was straddling the branch, once she was sure she wouldn't fall she looked up to see Kíli clinging to the same branch.

"JESUS CHRIST." Kendall screamed, trying to lower her speeding heart rate. Bryn let out the breath she was holding at the prospect of her friend's fall to death and rolled her eyes knowing Kendall was currently unharmed due to her outcry. The blonde was the first to notice Thorin rise and stand upon the fallen trunk.

The dwarf king, then, majestically tromped down the trunk towards his foe. The Orcrist was unsheathed and prepared to strike as his Oakenshield was adorned on his other arm. He raised his sword as he began to speed up to built up momentum for impending clash with the pale orc. Azog, atop his white warg, spread his arms out as if he was welcoming Thorin's challenge. Through the haze, the girls could make out a sinister grin on the orc's scar covered face. Battle cries rang out from both opponents' mouths before the white warg leapt off its perch above the flames and onto the dwarf, nearly flattening him to the ground. The rest of the company watched on as their leader hoisted himself back up onto his feet to make a second attempt at attacking his much larger nemesis, only to be gobsmacked by the huge metal club that the orc wielded. The dwarves cried out as they watched their leader crumple to the dirt, nearly unconscious from the blow to the side of his head. But Bilbo was the only one, who had the courage to pull himself up onto the trunk as the warg's jaws clamped around Thorin's body and thrash him about like a dog playing with one of its' favorite toy before it tossed him away like a killer whale playing with a seal. The dwarf's back collided with a resounding thud as he landed upon one of the large boulders that had been weathered on the cliff. For moments that felt like an eternity to the company, they watched and waited for their leader to rise up again to defend himself, but they were disappointed as Thorin's body remained unmoving.

Instead of finishing Thorin off like any good bad guy should, the pale orc muttered something to one of his companions and the other orc moved to do his master's dirty work. Bryn was only able to catch a glimpse of the hobbit as he unsheathed his little sword and bolted down the trunk towards Thorin and the orcs. Bilbo's blue blade twinkled in the night, but he did not use it as he tackled the orc away from Thorin just as it was about to decapitate him with his machete. With a sudden fierceness none of them had ever seen the Halfling possess, he began to impale the much larger being with his blade. Once he had finished it off, Bilbo whirled around to face the rest of the pack and all his courage almost seemed vanish when he saw that the odds were drastically against him. He tried to defend himself, slashing his sword through the air as threateningly as he could but the orcs weren't even phased by his unsuccessful posturing. But thankfully, the dwarves had finally managed to snap out of whatever trance they had been before and began to fight off the pack with all the might they could muster. Kendall and Bryn remained out of the fray as they stood upon the trunk as they did their best to aid the dwarves from a relatively safe distance. Kendall had drawn her bow and was firing upon the orcs at Bryn's instructions.

"Big ugly dude at 10 o'clock." The petite blonde one shouted over the commotion as her keen eyes scanned over the battle-taking place upon the scorched ground. Kendall didn't saying anything as she let loose another bolt in that general direction. It, barely, managed to sail above Nori's pointed hair and into the tough hide of the orc causing Bryn to hiss, "Careful, Kenny, don't hit our guys."

"You try aiming at a moving target with little to no experience with your weapon." Kendall snapped back as she fired at an orc that was trying to hammer Kíli into the ground. The brunette was about to continue when a strong wind washed over them from above causing both girls to look up towards the sky. Their eyes widened in shock when they saw a giant eagle descend upon them with its talons open.

"Holy shit!" The girls managed to belt out before they were plucked out of the tree by the over sized bird. The eagle soared upward and away from the fire before it dropped the girls without warning. Clinging onto each other, the girls screamed as they thought they were about to free fall to their deaths but their bodies did not plummet towards the ground below but instead they landed upon the feathered back of another eagle, who had swooped down to catch them.

"OH MY GOD!" Bryn screamed as she grabbed handfuls of feathers.

"I know isn't this awesome? We're riding a freaking eagle." Kendall said sitting up on her knees spreading her arms out with a wide grin on her face. Bryn however was not excited about this and pulled Kendall's arm forward so she fell on her stomach next to her terrified blond friend.

"What is wrong with you?!" Bryn screeched. Kendall turned to look at her with a look of pure joy as the wind whipped through their hair.

"Brynnie, we're flying!" Kendall exclaimed, dreamily before she began to sing.

"_I want to fly like an eagle _

_To the sea _

_Fly like an eagle _

_Let my spirit carry me."_

"Can you please stop?" Bryn moaned, clamping her eyes shut. All Kendall did was switch songs.

"_I can open your eyes_

_Take you wonder by wonder_

_Over, sideways and under_

_On a magic carpet ride."_

"I think I'm gonna hurl." Bryn admitted taking one hand out of its death grip on the feathers to cup her mouth. Kendall just sat back up and crawled to the neck of the eagle sitting astride it like a horse. It wasn't long before Bryn army crawled up to her and wrapped her skinny arms around her waist and burying her face in Kendall's back in fear.

"_When the cold wind's a a-calling_

_And the sky is clear and bright_

_Misty mountains sing and beckon,_

_Lead me out into the light_

"_I will ride, I will fly_

_Chase the wind and touch the sky_

_I will fly_

_Chase the wind and touch the sky."_

Kendall could feel Bryn humming along to the song and the brunette smiled as she pet the large head of the eagle. She looked around seeing the sun peak over the mountains and the silhouette of the other eagles flying around her. One by one the eagles dipped into a large valley and flew toward a large bear shaped solitary peek. The eagles let everyone down atop the rock starting with Thorin. Gandalf was the next to step onto the outcropping and he, immediately, rushed to the injured dwarf king's side. The wizard called out to him several times before he reached out his hand, muttering some sort of incantation as he ran his hand down towards the dwarf's chest. Thorin's eyes, slowly, fluttered open before he inquired, "The Halfling?"

"It's alright." Gandalf assured him as the dwarves surrounded their nearly fallen leader, "He's here. He's quite safe."

The three outcasts had stood to the side of the group because they had not wanted to interrupt the moment that the dwarves might desire. Well, Bilbo and Kendall stood to the side. Bryn was doubled over from the nausea, with her forehead resting on the cold stone, she was suffering because of the impromptu eagle rescue. She would've cared more about what was happening to Thorin if she would've been able to stand, so she remained where she was until her dizziness subsided. But her wishes were not upheld when Kendall pulled her into a standing position as Thorin approached the hobbit.

"You!" The dwarf pointed to Bilbo, "What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed. Did I not say that you would be a burden?" The king stepped even closer to the smaller man, "Did I not say that you would not survive in the wild? That you had no place amongst us." Thorin, then, did something completely unexpected as he pulled Bilbo into a fierce hug as he admitted, "Never have I been more wrong."

The rest of the dwarves seemed to celebrate this announcement. Even the girls seemed happy that Thorin had decided to accept the Halfling into the group after Bilbo's selfless act in his attempt to save Thorin's life.

"I told you they'd be great together." Kendall whispered to Bryn as they watched as the pair pulled away from each other.

"Bagginshield." Bryn laughed, shaking her head.

"They'd be the best gay couple in middle earth." Kendall declared, giggling. Bryn nodded as she added, "I know who'd be wearing the pants in that relationship."

Kendall shrugged before pointing out, "You never know. Maybe Thorin likes being the little spoon." Bryn shoved her friend with an eye roll which caused both girls to focus on the situation at hand.

The situation at hand was that the company was currently stranded on the top of a solitary peak in the middle of the night with no way of knowing how to get down without some form of light. It would be unwise to send someone to search for a path down without them being able to see. So it was decided that they would spend the night atop what was known as the Carrock and continue on their journey at first light. The girls still felt obligated to sleep on what was considered the 'outskirts of camp' but this time they were joined by Fíli and Kíli.

"Are you alright?" Fíli inquired to Bryn after the brothers had joined them, "I saw that you hit your head after we ran out of the troll caves but didn't get a chance to ask."

The blonde nodded and was grateful for that it was dark outside because the dwarf prince couldn't see her blush, "Yeah, it hurts but it's nothing that I'm not used to."

Fíli sent her a confused look even though he knew that she couldn't see it, "What do you mean?"

"Brynnie, here, has a tendency to concuss herself from time to time." Kendall informed the blond dwarf from her spot seated next his younger brother, "She did it often enough that everyone used to joke about how she needs a special helmet so that she wouldn't get any brain damage."

"Are you slow?" Kíli chuckled, taking a shot at the petite blonde girl's mental capabilities which earned him a glare from his companions. Bryn, even, went as far as to flip off the young dwarf, "No, you twat, I'm just clumsy and I don't usually pay much attention to my surroundings."

"Like when you flopped onto the couch at Jenny's house and knocked yourself out on the wooden backboard?" Kendall threw into the conversation.

Bryn proceeded to give her friend double California howdies as she hissed, "Fuck you."

"Love you, too, boo." Kendall chuckled back as laid back and examined the star blanketed night sky. Kíli noticed this and began to give her another astronomy lesson. Their whispers carried on into the night as Bryn and Fíli laid side-by-side trying to ignore the pair's occasional giggles. But eventually the blondes drifted off to sleep.

The four slept, soundly as Fíli and Kíli sandwiched the girls on either side so that they wouldn't 'accidently' roll off the side of the Carrock. But it was obvious that it was just an excuse to be closer to the girls. Fíli even made a move and tugged Bryn closer to him, who unconsciously snuggled into his embrace. Kíli attempted to do the same but the only reaction he received was a swift swat on his hand and an elbow to his ribs. The younger brother grumbled as he scooted away from the sleeping brunette in defeat.

The company woke as the sun rise in the east casting a reddish glow on everything below it. But little did they know that they were in for a real treat because peaking out on the horizon was the Lonely Mountain basking, proudly in the morning sun.

"Is that what I think it is?" Bilbo managed to inquired because everyone else was in awe at the sight before them.

Immediately, Thorin strode to the edge of the platform with a soft, but proud smile at he gazed out into the distance at his long lost home. Everyone else was quick to follow the dwarf king so that they, too, could get a closer look at their eventual destination. But it was Gandalf, who confirmed Bilbo's question, "Erebor. The Lonely Mountain. The last of the great dwarf kingdoms in middle earth."

"Our home." Thorin declared with a distant look upon his face. Everyone seemed to basking in the moment because their destination was now in sight, making it seem a little more attainable. However, Kendall had other ideas as she began to complain,

"Well, shit, we're that close? Why didn't we just have the eagles fucking fly us there?"

Bryn jabbed her friend in the side and sent her a pointed glare. But the wizard was quick to shut down the brunette girl's whining, "Because Miss Kendall, the eagles will not go near the dragon. They will not risk their lives where it does not concern them."

Kendall pouted and opened her mouth to continue, but all she managed to get out was a restrained whine as Bryn's sharp elbow dug into her side again. Kendall glared back at Bryn before she muttered, "Jesus Christ, it was just a suggestion. Would've saved us a helluva lot of time and walking."


	8. Chapter 8: The Bear and the Maidens Fair

Chapter 8: The Bear and the Maidens Fair

We do not own The Hobbit or any of J.R.R. Tolkien's works. Or Any of the songs mentioned in this story. The only things we own are Bryndle and Kendall.

Cowritten with Concrete Bubbles.

Major thanks from both Concrete Bubbles and I for all the reviews!

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><p>The company, slowly, made their way down the large steps that had been carved into the side of the Carrock towards the river below. Huge flat, stepping-stones led the group across the ford towards the woodlands on the other side. The group came across a small grove of trees near the river. They moved across the stones in twos as they tried to put as much distance between them and the orc pack that they knew was still following behind them.<p>

Once on the other side of the river, Thorin began to bark orders for everyone to begin making camp. Everyone worked, quickly and quietly as they began to gather wood for a fire and sweep the immediate area for any potential threats. Bryn and Kendall were assigned with washing any clothes that needed to be washed for the men. The pair made no complaints because they knew that Thorin was in an even sourer mood than usual and they didn't want to risk provoking him because they felt lazy and didn't want to do chores. Besides, after not being able to help out much in Goblin Town and when the orc pack attacked, they both felt compelled to help out as much as they could.

As the two girls began to work the stains out of the clothes they had been given at first, they noticed that their pile grew larger and larger with every dwarf that passed. When they finally looked up to see what the deal was, they saw that all dwarves excluding Thorin were bathing in the river not too far away from them. Groaning, Kendall began to scrub the tunic she was currently working on even harder until Bryn had to intervene.

Grasping her friend's wrist, the emerald-eyed blonde snickered, "Whoa, there killer. No need to take it out on their clothes. Let's just get this done. Besides afterwards, we can wash up ourselves. Lord knows we need it."

Kendall sniffed her armpit and cringed before caving in and began scrubbing less aggressively. They continued to work in silence until Bryn began to whistle a tune, quietly to herself. Kendall was immediately reminded of a song and began to sing,

"_We whistle while we work." _And Bryn whistled along catching onto what Kendall was doing and smiled, mischievously at her friend as she continued, _"Thorin is a jerk." _They both whistled this time before Bryn finished the song, _"A choo-choo train ran over his brain and now it does not work."_

The both girls burst into a fit of giggles as they worked their way through the company's clothes. It took them a little under a half hour to wash everyone's clothes minus Gandalf's. Of course, about half way through it, the two girls just started soaking the clothing and slapping them onto the large boulder beside them to dry in the early afternoon sun.

After Bryn and Kendall had finished their work, they went to grab their spare clothes that the elves had given them before they slipped around to the other side of the boulder so that they could wash themselves and cool off a little from the late summer's heat. They stripped out of their dirty attire and hung it on a branch near by to wash after they had changed before they dove into the cool stream.

"Oh my god," Bryn groaned as she waded out to where the water covered her chest, "I never thought I'd be so happy for a bath and some privacy."

"Word." Kendall agreed as she began to scrub herself down as best she could without any soap, "I never thought I'd be roughing it like this for so long. All those times I took my loofa for granted."

"I know!" Bryn chuckled before her head bobbed under the water and then reemerged to say, "Before this, I would have never given thought to camping without a trailer. You know how much I hate sleeping on the ground."

"Me neither. But I just hate camping in general." Kendall snorted and turned her back to her friend, "If it were up to me, I'd stay inside and read Harry Potter all day-" She was cut off a wave of the ice water washed over her, "Holy Hell, Bryn!"

Whirling around, a murderous look flickered in the brunette's blue eyes before she used all her might to splash her friend as payback. A splash war ensued for the next five minutes or so as the girls fought until one or the other word give up. But it eventually ended in a draw because both of them were starting to prune and chill from the cold water. They, then, dried themselves off as best as they could before they began to put on their new change of clothes. They had both managed to pull on fresh underwear and their pants before they noticed they were missing something.

"Fuck," Bryn hissed as she fumbled around, "Where's my bra?"

Kendall shrugged and went to put her's on, only to find that her's was missing as well, "Shit, dude, I think we left them with our dirty clothes."

Bryn turned to face her friend, her eyes widening at the thought of leaving their underwear were the men of the company could see them. That was probably the last thing they needed was a bunch of grown ass men asking them about what these items of clothing were.

"Fucking hell." The girls groaned in unison as they both, haphazardly, threw their shirts over their heads, pulled their socks and boots on before they rushed around to the other side of the boulder to retrieve their respective bras. But as they rounded around the large stone, they found that their bras weren't hanging on the branches along with the rest of their clothes but instead they were wrapped around the heads of Fíli and Kíli. Neither girl moved as their mouth fell open and their eyes widened in mortification.

"What the hell are you doing with those?!" Kendall shouted, having recovered first from the sight before them.

"I found these hanging on the branches, when we were dressing." Kíli stated, cheekily as he adjusted the bra so that it was now perched upon the crown of his head, "Since we'd never seen them before, we weren't sure what they were."

"I told the lads that they might be some sort of hat." Bofur informed the girls as he made his way towards them with his pipe in hand. He, too, seemed quite proud of himself for coming up with thought that Bryn and Kendall's bras could be worn as hats.

Fíli, then, spoke up as he laced up his boot, "So we put them on. Not really sure how these things keep your heads warm though."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT THEY'RE FOR!" Bryn shrieked and lunged forward to pluck her bra, which was wrapped around the older brother's head. The blonde dwarf prince, easily, managed to evade her attempts at reclaiming her bra before bounding off into the woods and Bryn taking off after him. Leaving Bofur, Kendall, and Kíli all standing awkwardly on the riverbank waiting for whatever was going to happen next.

Kíli made a move to run off as well, but Kendall tackled him before he could get a head start, "BITCH, don't even think about it." She swatted the younger brother on the head for good measure before she made her way back around to the other side of the boulder so that she could put her bra on. Kíli sent a confused look to the older dwarf standing next him and all Bofur had to offer was a hearty chuckle between the puffs he took from his pipe.

Meanwhile, Bryn was hot on Fíli's heels as she attempted to chase down both the crowned dwarf prince and her bra. He moved, swiftly through the undergrowth as he leaped over fallen limbs and cut around trees in the hope of throwing her off his trail. But to his surprise, the small girl had managed to keep up with him to the point that she was able to grab a hold of his cloak and pull him to a halt.

"Give. Me. Back. My. Bra." She hissed, dangerously as Fíli turned about to face her. He gave her a confused look, but then his mouth shaped itself into an 'o' as the petite girl tapped the side of head. Blushing, furiously, he pulled it off the top of his head and handed it to her.

Bryn's own face was scarlet red as she plucked the nude colored clothing from the dwarf's thick hands, "Thanks." She smiled, sweetly up at him before she made her way around a rather large oak tree that they had managed to stop in front of. A few seconds later, Bryn, then reappeared and the mysterious item of clothing had disappeared from sight.

"So what are these 'bras' used for?" Fíli inquired as he inspected the girl before him from head to toe, his blue eyes trailing over her slender legs, moving up to her hips and thin, hour-glass shaped waist before they fell upon her breasts which were held, firmly in place and at attention, before they finally made it back to her face.

Bryn's skin began to boil as she felt his eyes roam over her body as the dwarf made no attempt to hide what he was doing. She wondered to herself why someone like him would even look at her the way he was now. Surely, he wouldn't be attracted to her that way. She wasn't a dwarf and certainly never would be one, but there was no denying the look in his eyes and the smirk painting his lips. The man liked what he saw.

"Well, um… It's for-" Bryn fumbled over herself as she struggled to find the easiest explanation for it's purpose, then a thought struck her, "It's like a corset. It holds 'these'" She flushed even brighter as she gestured towards her chest, and finished, lamely, "In place."

Fíli felt his own face flush as he registered what her words meant and then immediately, realized afterwards that he had been wearing it on his head when that wasn't what it was meant for. He tried to apologize but found himself at a loss for words.

Bryn chuckled, softly, as she stepped forward and placed one of her hands on his bicep, "It's alright. You didn't know any better. You were just horsing around. It's natural. I suppose, especially since you're male."

"So you're not mad at me?" The blonde dwarf questioned as his hand moved to cover Bryn's completely. The girl scoffed and shook her head, "Of course, I was. I was mortified and embarrassed as hell. I can't believe- wait, yes, I can believe you would do something like that. Even if you thought you were being cute."

"But you were angry." Fíli reminded her as if he didn't believe what she was saying.

"Only because you guys took our bras and put them on your head because you thought they were hats," Bryn pointed out, awkwardly, "Besides it feels weird not to wear it. I couldn't let you have it. Besides you looked ridiculous."

"What would I do without you looking out for me?" The dwarf joked as he removed his hand from over her and ruffled her hair, affectionately with it. Bryn tried to swat it away but he caught her wrist with his other.

"I don't know. You'd probably be standing around the fire looking like a complete dunce with that brother of yours." Bryn stuck her tongue out at the prince.

"We couldn't have that now, could we?" Fíli inquired with a chuckle as he leaned closer towards her. Bryn smirked and shook her head, tilting her head up so that she could look at him easier, "No, we couldn't."

"I am honored that you care so much about my appearance." He cursed, himself because that was not what he had wanted to say and it had come out all wrong. He wished that he had his brother's way of words and smooth demeanor towards women. It surely would've aided him right now.

"I don't only care about your appearance, Fíli." Bryn murmured, softly as her eyes flickered towards his lips and then back up to look him in the eyes, "I care about you."

Fíli was stunned by her words, but didn't say anything as he swept her into his arms before Bryn had the chance to protest. Without a second thought, he cupped the back of her head, digging his fingers into her golden curls and pressing his lips to hers.

Bryn gasped, in surprised but quickly, recovered and kissed him back just as gently. She had to fight back a giggle as she felt the braids of his mustache brush against her cheeks. They both pulled back for air at the same time before their lips met again, this time more urgently and passionately than before as Fíli backed them towards the nearest tree. Their kisses became sloppy as he leaned into her, trapping her between his body and the oak tree behind them.

Eventually, they pulled away this time panting for the air that their bodies so desperately needed. Fíli looked down, fondly, at the petite woman in his arms and cupped her cheek with one of his hands, "I care about you as well."

Bryn grinned up at him before she placed a peck into the corner of his mouth. Fíli tried to angle his mouth so that he could kiss her full on but her thin finger blocked his lips. He sent her a confused look as she chuckled at him and shook her head, "Not this time. We gotta get back before your uncle sends a search party out for you and I'd rather not be the reason you weren't safely at camp with the others."

"You're probably right," Fíli agreed and back away so that she could step away from the tree not really wanting to test Thorin's patience anymore than it already had been in the past few days. As they made their way towards camp, he managed to catch her hand in his own and gave it a gentle squeeze which Bryn returned before she laced her fingers through his, both feeling more confident than ever before.

They broke through the tree line and came in view of the camp. Kendall could be heard laughing while she tried to explain the slap game to Nori, who's quick hands expertly moved out of the way, due to his practice of using the five-finger discount. Kendall was leaning against an oddly quiet Kíli, who sat wringing his hands together and not looking at anyone. When the group noticed the two blondes emerge from the woods they sent knowing looks to the pair. Kendall smirked up at her friend.

"How you doin'?" She asked with an impish grin and an upward nod of her head.

"Shut up." Bryn replied and sat down on the other side of Kíli, Fíli following her lead.

The company didn't settle into camp right away after everyone had finished bathing. Everyone was too anxious to hear what their burglar had to say when he returned from his scouting trip. They needed to hear if they had put enough distance between them and the pale orc's pack to settle in for the day or if they should move on. The cheerful, playful mood had vanished from earlier as they waited for any news from Bilbo.

While they were waiting, Kendall and Bryn were sent off in search of firewood so that Bombur would have wood to start a fire for dinner if they were given the 'OK' to make camp. They hadn't strayed too far away from camp but they were far enough to be out of earshot of the others so they could talk in peace. Well, mainly, Kendall wanted to talk. Bryn's job was to listen to what the brunette had to say. So as they went about picking up random sticks and twigs, Kendall spoke up, "You know you can't be with him."

"Why not?" Bryn challenged, whirling around to face her friend. Kendall sighed and shook her head as she pointed out, "Because we still have to go back home, remember?"

"What if we never go home?" Bryn inquired as she set a hard stare back her friend.

Kendall scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Dude, we have to go back. We can't stay here. We're not from here."

The look on Bryn's face became a look of anger as she dropped the bundle of sticks she had been collecting and pointed at her friend, "Even _if _we have to go back, I'm going to make the most of it. I'm not like you. I can't deny my feelings for him anymore. Even if I have to say 'goodbye', I will at least know that I tried."

"What do you mean 'I'm not like you'?" Kendall hissed, dropping her own bundle and silently, daring her friend to elaborate.

Bryn rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest, "I mean 'I'm not like you' in the matter that I'm at least not denying my feelings like you are for a certain young archer."

"Fuck, man! Are you taking stupid pills today?" Kendall questioned, exasperatedly, as she facepalmed, "I'm saving myself from heartbreak later."

Bryn shook her head at her friend, "Then, you're not living."

"The hell I am."

The blonde shook her head once more at her friend before she decided to drop the conversation, "Whatever. Just let me do what I want and I'll let you do as you please."

"Whatever." Kendall shrugged as she bent down to regather what kindling she had dropped. She wasn't going to come back to camp empty handed. If they didn't have wood then they wouldn't be able to cook and they would have to wait longer to eat if someone else had to go out and gather more wood. Bryn also picked up what she could from her previous bundle before they both made their way back to camp in silence.

Bombur seemed appreciative that the girls had gone out of their way to gather wood for him. But before he could start the fire, he was ordered to wait until Bilbo got back from his recon mission. They needed to know if they would be safe enough here to make camp or if they needed to push further away from enemy territory.

Bryn, Fíli, Kenny, and Kíli huddled up together next to one of the large boulders that helped outline the border of the camp as they waited for Bilbo to return. Those four were the only ones who seemed to be even the slightest at ease. It was no surprise considering they were four of the youngest members in the group. It was made even more apparent by the way they had joked and laughed earlier. They seemed to still be in high spirits, especially the pair of blondes, who now appeared closer than before.

The pale, blue eyes of the company's leader watched the pair from across the clearing. They were stony and judgmental as he watched his oldest nephew interact with the smaller human girl. It was clear that the pair had grown closer during their frolic in the trees and Thorin, certainly, wasn't happy with it. But now was not time to confront his heir about his displeasure. There were much more pressing matters that needed his attention than his nephew's current infatuation. He turned towards the path just as the hobbit appeared at the end of the stony trail.

"How close is the pack?" The dwarf king demanded once Bilbo was close enough to speak to without being overly loud. The hobbit was panting as he stopped before him, "Too close." He managed to get out between breaths, "A couple of leagues. No more. But that's not the worst-"

Dwalin, who was the next person closest to him asked, "Have the wargs picked up our scent?"

The rest of the company looked on and listened to what the Halfling had to say. Everyone was on their toes after their last run in with the Orcs and they weren't going to feel relaxed until they had sorted out their next course of action.

Bilbo shook his head, "Not yet, but they will soon enough. But there's another problem."

"Did they see you?" The grey wizard, then, inquired, stepping up into the circle the dwarves and the hobbit had created.

"No, that's not it-" Bilbo was cut off by Gandalf, who, immediately went on to praise the smaller being, "Oh, well, what did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material."

The dwarves began to mutter in agreement, but Kendall and Bryn could tell that there was something off about the way that Bilbo had persistently tried to speak up. He had seen something that had startled him, greatly, but the rest of the men continued to ignore him so Bryn nudged Kendall in the side for her to help him out with her big lungs.

"Yo!" Her shout drew the company's attention towards her, "He's not done yet. What good is having a scout if you don't let him speak?"

The dwarves and the wizard immediately quieted down and looked to the hobbit expectantly. Bilbo managed a sort, 'thank you' in the brunette's direction before continuing, "What I was trying to tell is that there is something else out there!"

"Was that something a rather large bear?" Gandalf inquired, peering down at Bilbo's shaking form. Bilbo nodded, frantically, "Yes, it was unlike anything I have ever seen. He was as big, no, bigger than a house!" He waved his arms around in a poor attempt to demonstrate the size of the creature that he had seen.

Anxious murmurs began to flutter up amongst the group again at the description of the bear that Bilbo had seen. Not one of them had ever heard of a bear that big. Bears like that simply didn't exist. They would've called tomfoolery on Bilbo but they had no reason not to believe him. The hobbit had keen eyes and by the way he was so visibly shaken up by the sight, they knew that what he said must be true.

"I say we double back." Bofur declared, not wanting to run into the beast that the Halfling had just described. Thorin wasn't on board with the idea as he reminded the miner, "We'll be run down by a pack of orcs."

In an attempt to reign in the anxious company, Gandalf stepped up and informed the group, "There is a house, it's not far from here, where we might take refuge."

"Whose house? Are they friend or foe?" Thorin demanded as he turned to face the wizard.

"Neither. He will help us or kill us." The wizard expressed with an ominous tone.

"What choice do we have?" The dwarf king inquired with an obvious frown, not liking where this was going.

The company didn't have much time to be scared because by time Gandalf finished speaking, a bellowing roar of bear and the thunderous sound of large footsteps coming from somewhere in the distance behind them. A jolt ran through everyone's bodies as the wizard looked over them with wide eyes, "None. Run, you fools! This way!"

The group sprang to life; everyone was practically scrambling over each other as they tried to put as much distance between themselves and the large apex predator that was following. They darted downhill through the forest as quickly as their short legs could carry them over the limbs and rocks that blocked their path. Gandalf was leading the group towards their unknown destination, but they knew they had to trust the wizard otherwise they would be bear chow. The company paused in the middle of a large gully in an attempt to regroup and catch their breaths. The forest surrounding them almost seemed peaceful. Well, it seemed peaceful until the roar of a bear echoed through the trees around them. With wide eyes Bryn and Kendall looked at each other, this bear sounded way bigger than any land predator the girls had ever heard of.

"It feels like we're being chased by the fucking T-Rex from Jurassic Park." Kendall whispered, quietly, to her friend between heaving breaths. Bryn managed to force a smile and shove the brunette away from her, "I think this thing is a lot scarier than a T-Rex."

Another roar resounded around them, which caused Gandalf to urge the group onward, "This way, quickly!" The wizard led the group out of the trees to a large, grassy clearing where it became everyone for themselves. Kendall, who had never be a runner, felt as if her lungs were on fire and her legs were about to give out from searing with pain she was feeling, but fear fueled adrenaline continued to urge her onward. Just ahead of her, Bryn was sprinting alongside Fíli, who had managed to grab her hand as the group had taken off. Kendall, barely, had a moment to be thankful before she heard panting behind her.

Thinking that it was the bear, she didn't dare to look over her shoulder. But her jaw dropped when she saw that the large, round ball that was Bombur pushing past her. If she had thought anyone would have a harder time running for their lives it was obese dwarf. Kendall shrugged her surprise off, chalking it up to self-preservation, as she reached out and grabbed a hold of his long, red jump rope like beard that was trailing behind him. He didn't even seem to notice that she had latched onto him and he continued to bulldoze his way towards the front of the group.

Just ahead of the group was a large cottage in the middle of the clearing with a few towering trees surrounding it. If one had the opportunity to notice, they would've seen that the meadow was filled with wildflowers and bees almost as big as rabbits dancing from bloom to colorful bloom. But the company had no such opportunity to take notice because their priority was making it through the front gate and into the house because just behind them, a large bear burst forth from the trees and bellowed, as it charged towards them.

At this point, everyone was acting on instinct as they pushed themselves towards what would hopefully be safety. They paid no mind as their legs protested as they hurtled them through the gate as the footfalls of the bear resonated louder and louder in their ears. Bolting ahead, Fíli and Kíli reach the large wooden doors of the cottage and began to fumble with trying to open it. But thankfully, Thorin reached the brothers and managed to lift the lever just enough for the doors to bow open for everyone dash in. The dwarves, then, pilled through the doors and began pushing them shut as quickly as they could. The bear's large head butted the other side causing both the doors and dwarves to buckle back, but they continued to push against the force and managed to get the door latched shut.

Everyone remained silent as the bear continued to paw, whine, and snort around the front of the cottage for a few tense moments until the great beast finally padded off. For a few more moments, they group listened and waited to see if the bear would return but when they heard no sign of the creature, they collapsed on the straw covered floor in relief. That was until Kendall emitted a high pitched squeal and jumped back to her feet and sprinting toward the large wooden chair, where she then leapt on top of it with more strength and grace than anyone thought her capable of.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Kíli asked standing as well, looking around frantically. Bryn, who had seen what caused her friend's moment of lunacy, rolled her eyes and shook her head. She would never understand why Kendall reacted to violently about her fears.

"She saw a mouse." Bryn announced, as she seemed perfectly at home as she leaned back into Fíli's side. The rest of the company looked over at where the little white mouse with beady pink eyes sat gnawing on a little crumb, and then unanimously they turned to look at Kendall, whom was still sitting on the large chair, slowly turning red from embarrassment.

"You've got to be joking." Nori rolled his eyes at the frantic brunette.

"You don't get to decide your fears, they are designed for you." Kendall pointed out with her nose stuck out in the air. She had no problem admitting she was absolutely terrified of rodents. She didn't care if she seemed childish in front of a group of grown men. It was her fear and she was allowed to be afraid of it.

"Stop being a baby and come back down." Bryn down played her friend's reaction.

Kendall shook her head and pointed at the large door, "I'd rather face the bear."

"Don't worry I'll protect you from the big bad rodent." Kíli promised as he walked toward her with a mischievous grin. She tried to pull away but he was too quick. He reached up and grabbed her legs pulling her off the chair, catching her as she fell. Her face flushed as he held her waist and led her back to the group. She, wearily, sat down in her original spot next to Bombur. Kíli sat next to her and wrapped his arm around her pulling her closer to him.

"What was that?" Dori inquired, still trembling in fear of the giant beast that could still be looming outside the door.

Gandalf declared, "That was our host." The entire group looked up at the wizard in shock. He nodded and continued, "His name is Beorn and he is no mere bear by any means. He is a skin-changer. Sometimes he is a huge black bear and sometimes he large man. But both are rather dangerous. He does not take kindly to visitors and if we seek refuge with him, there's a chance that he might kill you. He is not overly fond of dwarves."

"It's not natural, none of it. He's got to be under some dark spell." Dori whined, looking around, nervously, as he pulled his youngest brother closer to him.

"Don't be a fool." Gandalf said what everyone else was thinking as he shook his head at the motherly dwarf and walked further into the large cabin, "He is under no enchantment but his own."

The company began to whisper amongst themselves at the possibility of a huge man that could turn into a bear on his own fear will. He was a danger that they had not expected to encounter when they had started on this journey and they all hoped that Beorn would allow them to be his guests. They needed this refuge if they were going to make it past Azog and his pack. But for the girls, despite their initial fear, were in absolute awe because Beorn was something that only happened in Syfy shows. He was an actual shape shifter, even if he could only transform into a large bear. He was probably one of the coolest things they had ever seen or heard of.

"Now, get some sleep all of you. There should be some open stalls for you to sleep in." Gandalf suggested, waving his hand in the direction of a wide hallway towards the back of the cabin, "You will be safe here tonight."

The company rose from their places on the floor and began to journey into the very large-scale house. Everything around them was so much bigger and made everyone, even Thorin, feel like children as they walked into the hallway Gandalf had pointed out. This part of Beorn's house felt much more like a barn. Even if there was straw and animals strewn about his home, this was obviously were the animals slept at night. There were six wooden stalls on each side of the hallway and about half of them were already occupied by Beorn's animals. Leaving the other half for the company to sleep in. The group of thirteen distributed the open stalls between them as evenly as possible. Originally, the girls were to have a stall of their own but it didn't surprise either of them that Fíli and Kíli opted to join them. The older brother didn't waste anytime settling himself down beside Bryn, while the younger brother warily sat down in the straw at a safe distance away from Kendall. Nobody bothered to speak, they didn't want to waste time that could be used for sleeping because they didn't know what the next day would bring.

Kendall woke at some point in the middle of the night to the sound of something growling about outside. With some courage, she peaked through a hole in the wall in an attempt to see where the noise was coming from, but all she saw was darkness. There was another rumble, this time closer to the wall, which caused Kendall to squeak and duck back down before she crawled over to Bryn and snuggled into the side that wasn't occupied by Fíli. In her sleep, Bryn felt something strange latch onto to her, which caused to jolt up and smack whatever, had dared to touch her.

"Ouch! What the fuck, Bryn." Kendall hissed as she rubbed the side of her face where Bryn's tiny hand had connected with her cheek. The petite blonde, instantly, felt bad because she had slapped her friend, "Shit, sorry, I thought you were something else."

"No kidding," Kendall rolled her eyes even though her friend couldn't see her in the dark. Bryn shook her head at the brunette before she asked, "What were you doing?"

"Cuddling." Kendall informed her a little too quickly.

"Really? You know how I don't like to cuddle." Bryn reminded her friend as she attempted to smooth down her hair.

Kendall tried to prevent her eyes from rolling into the back of her head after she heard what her friend had to say, "Really? Did you tell that to a certain dwarf? Because you don't seem to mind him doing it."

"That's different." Bryn tried to dismiss her friend's obviously correct statement.

Kendall shook her head at the blonde, "It's only different because he's a dude."

"Whatever. So why were you up?" Bryn inquired, trying to change their conversation topic.

A low growl from outside caused them both squeal and jump into each other's arms, their eyes wide with fear. Their actions jostled Kíli awake as they bumped into him when they tried to back as far away from the outer wall of the stall.

"What in Mahal's name are you two doing up?" The young dwarf mumbled as he tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

"I-I think there's a bear outside," Bryn informed him, dumbly, as she continued to cling to her friend.

Kíli almost seemed to give her a 'no shit' look before he looked to Kendall to see if she was going to give him a better answer. It was obvious to the blonde girl that the brunette dwarf had always been a little salty towards her and she was pretty sure it had something to do with all the attention she was getting from Fíli. Kíli was also the only dwarf that still called her, 'Bryndle'. He also seemed to hover around Kendall, despite her numerous rejections. That was why Bryn wasn't surprised that he looked toward her brunette friend for an answer.

But despite Kíli's hope, Kendall agreed with her friend, "I think she's right. I woke up first when I heard it. So being the scared little shit I am I sought comfort from my supposed best friend, but the little bitch slapped me in her sleep. Which is why we are all up now."

The young dwarf prince shook his head at the pair. He wasn't sure of how to respond to their story until there was another growl, this time farther off, which caused Bryn to push Kendall into his arms before she buried herself back into Fíli's side. Without a second thought, both Kíli and Kendall huddled next to the other couple. There was safety in numbers and for the girls; they felt safest when the brothers were protecting them.

Sleep didn't come easy for the three for the rest of the night. They tossed, turned, and glanced back, occasionally, at the outer wall in fear that a bear might come through it. Bryn found sleep the quickest as she nestled herself in the arms of her unsuspecting dwarf prince. Kíli followed shortly after Bryn, he was completely content because he had taken Kendall's startled mental state as an opportunity to snuggle with her. He curled himself around her rigid form as a sign to the brunette girl that he would protect her. But despite his presence, Kendall struggled to find sleep so she chose to lay awake and stare up at the ceiling for the rest of the night.


End file.
